Bendigo man sent 172 abusive texts to ex-girlfriend over two weeks

The Bendigo man sent almost daily aggressive messages to his ex-girlfriend, in one outburst sending 50 texts in one day.

In a barrage of more than 170 abusive text messages a Bendigo man has threatened to burn down his former girlfriend’s house and report her children’s dogs, a court has heard.

On Wednesday, Bendigo Magistrate’s Court was told the man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, sent almost daily aggressive messages to a woman — in one outburst sending 50 texts in one day.

The pair began their tumultuous relationship in 2018, with multiple family violence incidents leading them to break up by August 2019.

The court heard that month the abusive messages started to trickle in, starting with 16 texts and multiple calls on August 29.

Over the next 12 days the tradesman sent abusive messages to his former girlfriend, threatening to burn her house down and report her children’s dog to the authorities.

“You made three mistakes how about I make one big one you nasty c — t,” he wrote.

“You f — king police dog lover.”

The court heard in one stunt the man transferred $1000 to the woman but the next day demanded she contact him and give the money back.

Police said the woman pleaded for him to stop contacting her and to leave her alone.

The man’s lawyer Rebecca Heley said her client told her he would be unable to comply with a community corrections order.

She appealed for a large fine rather than a jail sentence, as the man had not reoffended since the 2019 outburst.

“This relationship has now ended,” she said.

Magistrate Rodney Higgins said given the man’s history the “threats and angry outbursts “ could have ended in jail.

The man pleaded guilty to breaching the domestic violence order.

Mr Huggins sentenced him a $1500 fine.