Luke Schofield: Police officer convicted of using carriage service to harrass ex-girlfriend

A serving police officer who left 38 voicemails and sent 72 emails off six different accounts to his ex-girlfriend – including a threat of sending intimate images to her mum – has been sentenced.

Luke Schofield with his lawyer at Downing Centre Local Court on Tuesday.

A serving police officer who left 38 voicemails and sent 72 emails from six different accounts to his ex-girlfriend and threatened to send intimate photos to her mother has been convicted.

Luke Schofield, of Kensington, appeared at Downing Centre Local Court on Tuesday after pleading guilty to use carriage service to menace, harass or offend.

Agreed facts reveal the 26-year-old had been in a relationship with the victim from about June 2021 until about October 2022 and after they had broken up, he continued to contact her.

On October 22, during an argument on Facebook about the officer’s spare key, Schofield threatened to send intimate photos of the victim to her mother.

He requested the victim return the key, saying “just f**king mail it c**t it’s my only spare”.

Mock conversation between Schofield and the victim.

Mock conversation between Schofield and the victim.

After back-and-forth messages, Schofield later sent a screenshot of his photo gallery with agreed facts saying it “contained several intimate images of the victim”.

A few messages later, Schofield said “GIVE ME MY F**KING SPARE KEY BACK”.

The victim said Schofield should “make another one”, prompting him to say “your mum is getting a present”.

The victim said she’d report Schofield to which he said “good, report me”, “you wanna threaten to ruin my life”, and “game on”.

Mock conversation between Schofield and the victim.

Mock conversation between Schofield and the victim.

Then from November 1 to 13, he left 38 voicemails and sent 72 emails to the victim, using six different accounts. During this time, she had blocked Schofield from contacting her on various platforms and had told him he was “scaring” her and to stop contacting her.

Further intermittent conversations were had and between January 22 and 23, Schofield subsequently emailed the victim six times from two different email accounts, asking her to “reblock” him as he didn’t want to see her moving on.

The victim responded, again asking for him to stop messaging her and that she would report him if he continued.

On January 26, the victim reported the matter at Marrickville police station and Schofield was arrested the following day, admitting to contacting the victim through email and voicemails.

In court, Schofield’s lawyer said his client had shown genuine remorse and contrition which was “confirmed” by the sentencing assessment report.

The court heard the 26-year-old had struggled to accept the end of his relationship, but, he understood the victim “did not deserve it” and “how his behaviour would have frightened her”.

Luke Schofield leaving Downing Centre Local Court after being sentenced on Tuesday.

The lawyer said while the “charge period [was] three months”, the offending was “only [over] a period of two weeks”.

He told the court his client was of prior good character and had joined the police force in August 2020 and had an “exemplary career”. He said Schofield had been working on “limited duties” since the incident.

The lawyer said Schofield would continue to receive mental health treatment.

When addressing the 26-year-old’s remorse and contrition, the prosecutor said he “plainly understood” the potential consequences his offending could have had on his career, but “it had little effect on him”.

In sentencing Schofield, Magistrate Susan Horan said “the volume of messages and emails” sent was concerning, as was using “multiple email addresses”.

However, she accepted Schofield was cooperative with police, had shown insight into his offending, his remorse was genuine while acknowledging he was a low risk of reoffending.

Schofield was ultimately convicted and was required to give security of $1000 to be of good behaviour for 18 months. He must also attend four further appointments with a psychologist.