Bill Argyropoulos jailed for assaulting, tracking girlfriend

A man who assaulted his girlfriend before tracking her car with a phone because he suspected she was seeing someone else has been jailed.

Bill Argyropoulos is accused of tormenting his partner at his Springvale home.

A jealous lover who assaulted his girlfriend before planting an iPhone in the grill of her car to track her movements has been jailed.

Bill Argyropoulos, 54, was sentenced in the County Court to 2.5 years behind bars on Wednesday after pleading guilty to an array of offences, including assault and using a surveillance device without consent.

The disability pensioner, who has an extensive criminal history and is on the sex offender’s register, had only been dating the woman for four months when the relationship soured and she began to spend less time with him.

Suspecting she was seeing someone else, he confronted her at his Springvale home on April 23 last year, demanding to see her phone and know who she was spending time with.

A struggle ensued over the phone, with him kneeing her in the ribs and hitting her in the head with the mobile device.

He soon after secreted an iPhone in the woman’s car so he could use the find my iPhone app to see where she was at all times.

After he later told her he was tracking her, she took the car to a mechanic, who searched the vehicle and found the device.

She then reported the incident to police.

Argyropoulos initially told investigators the accusations were “f--king bullshit” and that whoever made the statement had a “wild imagination”.

He denied assaulting the woman but later confessed to using an iPhone to track her.

Argyropoulos then contacted his victim, telling her to retract her statement, and to not tell police he was messaging her because “then I’m f--ked”.

“Please don’t let them use you like a puppet to get me,” he messaged her, calling her “baby” and begging her to think about his two children.

On May 20, police raided his home, finding a hydroponic cannabis set-up in the garage, methylamphetamine and a trove of weapons, including a samurai sword, batons and dozens of knives.

Argyropoulos also advised police there was an electrical bypass at his home which was stealing power.

Argyropoulos’ lawyer Alex Patton earlier told the court his client struggled with intimate relationships due to his complex mental health conditions, including a diagnosis of delusional jealousy.

Judge Amanda Chambers said Argyropoulos’ offending was “driven by jealousy and paranoia”, marking his prospects of rehabilitation as “guarded”.

She said previous court dispositions, including jail terms and community correction orders, for offending including assaults, recklessly causing injury, and drug possession had failed to deter him from further offending.

In 2017, she said he was placed on the sex offender register for eight years for inducing a child to take part in an act of sex work.

Argyropoulos, as part of his latest offending, also pleaded guilty to failing to comply with that register’s reporting obligations; as well as attempting to pervert the course of justice, cultivation of cannabis, and trafficking and possessing a drug of dependence.

On his release from prison, Judge Chambers ordered Argyropoulos be supervised on an 18-month community correction order, which will include mental health and drug abuse treatment, as well as men’s behaviour change programs.