Aiden Gomez: Batehaven man jailed for breaching AVO

A man’s search for warmth has seen him end up behind bars for at least three months, after he took refuge in a car to escape the cold.

A Batehaven man’s desperation for warmth has seen him end up behind bars after he broke an apprehended violence order by sleeping in a car.

The desperation to sleep indoors saw Aiden Gomez, 37, face Batemans Bay Local Court on Monday, having previously pleaded guilty to three counts of contravene prohibition in AVO and intimidation.

Documents tendered to the court reveal Gomez currently has an active AVO on his mother and brother due to previous, unrelated offences.

The court heard on Monday how, despite Gomez knowing he had the strict AVO on him, he still attempted to enter his mother’s home three times on the evening of July 26 to sleep indoors and get out of the cold.

However, each time he attempted to enter the home, his brother told him he “needs to leave now”.

Aiden Gomez appeared in Batemans Bay Local Court via video link from custody.

On the third occurrence at 8pm, Gomez’s brother informed him if he did not leave, the police would be called.

“I’ll smash ya head in,” Gomez replied. “You’re not tough, you’re not hard.”

After appearing to have left his brother returned indoors, however, early the next morning his brother woke to discover Gomez had taken refuge in his mother’s car.

Police were called to the scene where they arrested Gomez for “clearly breaking the strict AVO orders”.

In court on Monday, it was revealed the new offence was Gomez’s 39th sentencing in only a few years.

“You can’t just keep pleasing yourself,” Magistrate Doug Dick said. “If the court says you can’t do something, then you can’t do it.”

Gomez’s lawyer Matilda Bogart said her client was simply trying to find a warm place to sleep.

“He’s currently homeless and this was a particularly cold night,” she said.

However, Gomez, who appeared in court via video link from custody, interrupted Ms Bogart, noting he was also trying to retrieve belongings from the garage.

“This is ridiculous, my stuff was in the shed and I was just trying to get it back,” he said.

Mr Dick informed Gomez to “hold your tongue”, before noting there was no excuse for entering the property when the court ordered him not to.

“You shouldn’t have been there, that’s the problem,” he said.

When punishing Gomez, Mr Dick considered this was his 39th sentencing in only a few years.

“These short, sharp sentences clearly aren’t working,” he said. “We need to show you how serious the law is and how important it is to follow it.”

Gomez was convicted and sentenced to nine months jail with a parole period of three months.