Junior AFL coach Adrian Cornish pleads guilty to stalking woman for six weeks

A junior Gold Coast AFL footy coach has admitted to incessantly stalking a woman he met on a dating website for six weeks through abusive and menacing messages and unwanted contact.

Adrian Cornish faced Maroochydore District Court on Monday. Picture: Patrick Woods

A junior Gold Coast footy coach has been granted immediate parole for his disturbing stalking of a woman he met on a dating website after she dumped him.

The woman went through six hellish weeks of harassment all because Ashmore man Adrian Cornish would not accept their fling was over, and continually tried to rekindle it through incessant contact from August 25 to October 10 in 2023.

Details of his consistent pestering were heard in Maroochydore District Court on Monday following the 59-year-old’s guilty pleas to stalking and contravening an order about device information.

Legal officer Sanaz Masoumi said the pair met on a dating website in early 2022 and dated, where Cornish would drive from the Gold Coast to the woman’s Noosa hinterland property once a week to visit.

However when the victim wanted to end things, Ms Masoumi said it sparked the 59-year-old’s stalking offending which involved unwanted and excessive phone and personal contact.

She said the Gold Coast man sent the woman more than 300 texts, 13 emails and 14 voicemails.

Cornish encouraged her to respond to him during this contact and for them to rekindle their relationship. He also spoke about her not reporting him to police.

Cornish after his sentence. Picture: Patrick Woods.

The legal officer said the woman replied sporadically but times when she did not, the Gold Coast man threatened to “come see her”, stated she was “playing games” but he “loved the challenge”. She repeatedly told him not to contact her.

Ms Masoumi said Cornish showed up to the Gympie Music Muster two years ago and tried to speak to her while she was with friends, prompting her to tell him to leave her alone.

He continued to ask for meet ups to “talk it out”, on one occasion the woman drove off in her car in tears because Cornish’s behaviour became “increasingly erratic” and “obsessed”.

The court was told Cornish accused the victim of being a “toxic and horrible person” and gave off “mixed signals” and continued to contact her, at one point telling her he might apply for a job at her workplace.

Other messages included he would “come and see her”. When she didn’t respond he said that only left “one option” and sent a link of his live location which was near her home.

Ms Masoumi said Cornish encouraged the woman to come outside however she did not respond. She then lay “scared s---less and concerned” in bed all night due to this, the court heard.

At one point that evening he messaged that he could see the “lights were off in her house”, which made the victim believe he was close enough to be able to see this.

His stalking was eventually reported to police on September 21, 2023 however on her way back to her home there were various signs adorned along the street near her property which read “I love you (victim’s name)” and “I’m sorry”.

Cornish pleaded guilty to both charges in court. Picture: Patrick Woods

The legal officer referenced the woman’s victim impact statement, where she was “fearful” of him and felt her “sense of security was shattered” due to Cornish.

“She described his behaviour as ‘erratic, controlling and manipulative’,” Ms Masoumi said.

A formal complaint was made to police on September 15 and he was arrested on October 14. Cornish did not give police access to his phone. He was remanded in custody until November 9 when he was granted Supreme Court bail after 27 days on remand.

Defence solicitor Matthew Cooper claimed his client’s offending was a “very, very misguided attempt” of him trying to resume their relationship.

“Misguided is an understatement as you foreshadowed,” Judge Michael Byrne replied.

“Behaving like some lovesick 17-year-old with the guile of a man in his 50s.”

Mr Cooper said the father and junior AFL coach, who had worked with youth women’s Gold Coast Suns academies, was born in Victoria and was a carpenter by trade, however currently worked as a site supervisor.

The lawyer said Cornish did not give police his phone pin code partly due to the fact he wanted to speak to a lawyer and believed the offence “could’ve been avoided”.

Mr Cooper said the 59-year-old wrote an apology letter to the court which showed remorse and insight, and had completed domestic violence programs in the lead-up to his sentence on Monday.

Judge Byrne said it was clear the Gold Coast man “would not take no for answer” with his contact being “frequent and unwanted”.

The District Court Judge said he would however go against his “initial instincts” and not send Cornish back to prison. He opted to jail Cornish for two years, but granted him immediate parole, less the 27 days he had already served.

The 59-year-old was ordered to pay $3000 in compensation to the victim.

Originally published as Junior AFL coach Adrian Cornish pleads guilty to stalking woman for six weeks