Immanuel Pastrikos: Darwin businessman sentenced for unlawful stalking of ex girlfriend
A Darwin businessman went to extreme lengths to try and keep tabs on his ex-girlfriend, even planting a tracker sophisticated enough to remotely shut down her vehicle. Details.
A Darwin businessman stalked his ex-girlfriend using a hidden car tracker sophisticated enough to remotely shut down her vehicle.
Winnellie man Immanuel Pastrikos has been in custody since mid-2024 after police discovered his extensive efforts to stalk his former partner and employee.
Pastrikos was a married man when he struck up a sexual relationship with his eventual victim, who, according to court documents, worked under him for about two-and-a-half years.
Eventually, his marriage broke down and so did his affair with the woman, who left his employment in 2020.
However, in October 2021, she took her damaged vehicle to Pastrikos’ panel beating business where it stayed for almost a year.
When the woman asked Pastrikos to repair the car, the businessman commenced his stalking operation and installed a GPS tracker in the vehicle.
As such, Pastrikos was able to monitor her location and record her private conversations.
When Pastrikos and the woman spoke months later in May 2023, the businessman randomly disclosed intimate details about the victim’s life – information he obtained through his obsessive surveillance of her.
“That caused her significant anxiety because what you knew and what you were telling her she had never shared with you or she had never shared with anyone else,” Judge Julie Franz noted.
“That caused her to become extremely anxious and hypervigilant, and (she) began searching her house and her vehicle for surveillance devices.”
Pastrikos’ spying activities only ramped up from there.
In February 2024 he put a remote trail camera outside the woman’s house with a view to watching the woman.
Pastrikos was arrested the following month when police linked the camera’s data to his mobile.
He was bailed, but arrested again in June 2024 after detectives found the GPS tracker during a search of the woman’s car.
Police later discovered a total of 14,338 transmissions had been made between the tracker and Pastrikos’ phone.
Three years after he started trailing the woman, Pastrikos pleaded guilty to unlawful stalking and on Friday morning he appeared at Darwin Local Court via video link to learn his fate.
Pastrikos was supported by his parents who were in attendance.
“I’m told – and I accept – that you were a successful business owner,” Judge Franz said.
“You had – and you still have – strong family support, that you come from a large family in Darwin.”
Judge Franz noted Pastrikos had been a methamphetamine addict, compounded by poor mental health problems.
For his plea of guilty, the court heard Pastrikos would have 25 per cent of the sentence shaved.
Pastrikos was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment backdated to October 17, 2025.
The sentence will be suspended after six months, allowing Pastrikos to be released in March 2026.
A two year good behavior bond was also imposed.
