Jilted ‘childish’ lover slashed and smashed up ex’s Mornington home because he hated being alone
A Bangholme man was so full of anger when his lover of eight months broke up with him, he went on a terror campaign, wrecking her Mornington home more than once.
South East
Don't miss out on the headlines from South East . Followed categories will be added to My News.
A “childish” man who went on angry rampages after breaking into his ex-lover’s Mornington home to get back at her for ending the fling has been jailed.
Anthony John Payne said he was hurt by the eight-month relationship breakdown and he twice trashed the woman’s house because he “hated to be alone”.
The Bangholme 54-year-old pleaded guilty at the County Court on Friday to five burglary and intentionally damaging property charges.
Payne and the woman became lovers in 2017 before she ended the relationship in early 2018, but he refused to accept the break-up.
On April 23, 2018 the woman’s children came back from school to find someone had broken into their home by smashing a rear window.
Inside Payne had used a knife to slash a lounge suite and a bedhead, and tipped yellow paint all over the carpets.
Then on May 31, 2018 he broke in again, smashing a lounge room window to get inside, and taking a knife to the furniture once more.
He then cut massive holes in the carpets and slashed rugs, as well as slitting the woman’s bedding and clothing.
Before he left he cut the cords of every piece of electrical equipment in the house, including TVs, the washing machine, the refrigerator and even the kettle.
He still wasn’t done, coming back on July 24, 2018 and throwing rocks at the roller door, causing a dent in the fascia.
When he was interviewed in January 2019 Payne said what he did was “an annoyance” and that she had “f***ed (him) over and she will think twice before doing something like that again”.
His defence lawyer said he had some remorse and he suffered from anxiety and depression.
His medical reports stated he “hated to be alone, just needed his partner” and he was “stuck in an egocentric perspective”.
The woman’s victim impact statement said the crimes had cost her more than $20,000, had traumatised the family and “psychologically scarred her and her children for life”.
Judge Frances Hogan said Payne had shown “vengeful anger, lack of insight and an inability to move on from the relationship”.
“The fact that the burglaries and intentional damage of property have been committed in the home of your victim strikes at the fundamental entitlement of your victim and her children to feel comfortable and safe in their own home,” Judge Hogan said.
“It was a deliberately targeted form of menace to your victim, which involved childishly and pointlessly desecrating the amenity of her home in a deeply disturbing way.”
Payne was jailed for 30 months, with a non-parole period of 15 months.
MORE COURT NEWS
WOMAN ATTACKED AMBOS, COPS, NURSES, DOCTOR