Accused rapist Glenn Anthony Dylan Hartland sentenced over bail breaches
A MOONEE PONDS man accused of committing five rapes, menacing a prosecution witness and keeping another under surveillance will walk free from jail this weekend after being sentenced over bail breaches in a secret hearing.
Law & Order
Don't miss out on the headlines from Law & Order. Followed categories will be added to My News.
AN accused Tinder rapist will walk free from jail on Sunday after being sentenced over bail breaches during a secret hearing.
Glenn Antony Dylan Hartland, 43, of Moonee Ponds, is accused of committing five rapes on women over a two-year period.
ARMED MEN ON THE RUN AFTER CRASH, POLICE CHASE
ANZ MANAGER STEALS $300K IN ACT OF ‘ABSOLUTE GREED’
Astonishingly, police did not apply to revoke his bail on those charges when he was locked up for harassing a witness in his upcoming trial.
He has spent the past 58 days behind bars for menacing a prosecution witness and keeping another under surveillance via social media.
He was sentenced by Magistrate Andrew McKenna to two months in jail on Thursday after pleading guilty to the charges.
A Melbourne Magistrates’ Court clerk advised the Herald Sun Mr Hartland had been booked in for yet another bail application, but withdrew it because he was unwell.
He appeared later that day via video link where the shock sentence took place.
The decision has shocked Mr Hartland’s alleged victims, who were stunned their alleged tormentor will be back on the streets.
“We’re just in shock,” one woman said.
It came just days after a different magistrate criticised his taxpayer-funded legal team over its failure to prepare for the case adequately.
In that hearing, Mr Hartland’s barrister took the brunt of Magistrate Carolyn Burnside’s frustrations after he attempted to get a sentencing indication out of her over the charges he was ultimately sentenced on.
The court heard Mr Hartland, who allegedly met all of his victims through the online dating app Tinder, harassed the witness last month, laughing and yelling at her: “There’s no point hiding, you liar.”
The barrister had asked his client be cut loose with time served and a fine if he pleaded-up to the charges, but Ms Burnside had different ideas.
The magistrate demanded to hear how the offences had impacted on the victim, who later provided an email suggesting she had been deeply traumatised.
When questioned by police about his behaviour at the time, Mr Hartland told them he suffered anxiety and was bipolar.
But Mr Hartland yelled from the prison dock that he in fact had a borderline personality disorder.
The revelation only annoyed Ms Burnside further, who criticised his public defenders for failing to produce any psychological evidence that might support Mr Hartland’s claims.
“I find it astonishing that you ask the court to come up with a decision in these circumstances when I have no understanding of his personality,” she said.
“That you thought today was appropriate for a court to sentence in absence of that material.” She urged the barrister to abandon his plans to pursue a guilty plea on the breach of bail and contacting prosecution witness charges.
A forensic psychological report can take months to compile.
Mr Hartland will go to trial over the rape allegations in October.