Nikolaos Vlanis pleads guilty to terrifying kidnap and assault of teenage ex-girlfriend

A Murumbeena sparky who kidnapped and assaulted his underage ex-girlfriend after she broke up with him also used sickening threats to extort money out of his mate’s boss.

Nikolaos Vlanis pleaded guilty to kidnapping and assaulting his ex-girlfriend after she broke up with him over social media.

A Murumbeena apprentice electrician who kidnapped and assaulted his “terrified” teenage ex-girlfriend also attempted to extort thousands out of his mate’s boss using sickening threats.

Nikolaos Vlanis, 20, pleaded guilty in the Moorabbin Magistrates’ Court on January 10 to one charge of false imprisonment and one charge of aggravated assault.

The court heard Vlanis started a reign of terror on his mate’s boss in May last year, in an attempt to extort $20,000 from him.

Vlanis made several phone calls to the unsuspecting pizza shop owner, calling him a “malaka” and threatening the victim’s family.

In transcripts read to the court, Vlanis threatened “I’ll shoot you and f--- your daughters”.

A police investigation matched the cell-tower locations of the phone calls made as well as the phone number to Vlanis and his home address.

Generic domestic violence picture Source: iStock / Getty Images

After a search warrant on his home turned up phones, laptops, a black imitation firearm and a safe, police arrested Vlanis and his co-accused mate.

Vlanis’ friend told an undercover cop he hadn’t made the calls himself because the victim would “recognise his voice”.

“Niko called (the victim) … demanded he pay $20,000 or else we’d kill him,” he said.

“He told him he’d kill him and rape his daughters.

“It started out as a prank.”

The court heard Vlanis’ 17-year-old girlfriend broke up with him in July via the social media platform Snapchat, sending him into a spiral.

He coerced her out of her home with threats of violence, before physically assaulting her and holding her hostage at his home for more than 40 minutes.

Vlanis fronted the Moorabbin Magistrates’ Court on Friday, January 10, 2025.

Vlanis violently shook her, punched her and forced her to turn off her phone.

The victim was able to lock herself alone in a bathroom while Vlanis was outside the door with a hammer.

Vlanis eventually let her go, saying “I have nothing, I’m probably going to jail now”.

On Friday, the court heard Vlanis had since been going to therapy and had a letter of reference from his employer.

Magistrate Jan Maclean said his offending had “deeply concerning aspects”.

“The trauma the victim would have experienced here … would have been terrifying,” she said.

Vlanis was sentenced with conviction to complete a 12 month community corrections order with 100 hours of unpaid community work.