Clinton Douglas Stanger repeatedly messaged ex-wife in breach of ‘no contact’ court order

The 41-year-old repeatedly messaged the mother of his children in breach of a “no contact” order leading to a sizeable fine.

Incessantly messaging his ex-wife in breach of a “no contact” court order has left a 41-year-old Toowoomba man with a sizeable fine.

Clinton Douglas Stanger also had the woman’s name and number as an emergency contact on his phone which called her automatically when he had a car crash near Injune, Toowoomba Magistrates Court heard on Monday, January 1.

The messages consisted of texts, photographs, emojis and Messenger texts, police prosecutor Sergeant Julia Wheaton told the court.

The woman had kept the recordings which were shown to police and when officers spoke with Stanger on Sunday and asked why he still had her as his emergency contact he said he had no one else to contact, she said.

Incessant messaging his ex-wife has left a Toowoomba man with a large fine.

Stanger appeared via video link from the watch house to plead guilty to eight offences.

Duty lawyer Alysha Jacobsen said her client’s offending stemmed from lack of access to his children who he only got to spend two hours with each fortnight.

Stanger had spent three days in hospital after the car crash at Injune and he had suffered mental health issues since separation in February 2023 but he was now receiving counselling, she said.

This had been the first time her client had spent time in the watch house, Ms Jacobsen said.

Magistrate Kay Ryan noted the court order prohibited Stanger from having contact with the woman except under certain circumstances.

“Unwanted and unsolicited messages can be extremely distressing and menacing,” Ms Ryan told him.

Noting he had three previous breaches of the order, Ms Ryan convicted and fined Stanger $1500.