TikTok star Ian Bartholomew pleads guilty to stalking, breaching Peace and Good Behaviour Order

CCTV played to the court showed the bizarre antics that the TikTok star performed in the shared driveway, which included sex acts with a blow up doll after a neighbourhood dispute turned toxic.

Ian Bartholomew's TikTok cooking videos are popular. Pictured with his dog Zeta. Tuesday, October 25, 2022. Picture: Nev Madsen.

Sitting in the dock in the Toowoomba District Court, Ian Frank Bartholomew’s jaw dropped when Judge Paul Smith raised the prospect of deportation as a consequence of pleading guilty to stalking.

The 58-year-old Toowoomba immigrated to Australia from England when he was four years old but was never naturalised.

Judge Smith was considering jailing Bartholomew for 16 months but noted that he had already served 67 days in pre-sentence custody.

If ordered, the sentence would have triggered Queensland law that required non-naturalised migrants to return to their home country.

While the matter was listed for sentencing on Thursday, Judge Smith adjourned it to Friday so that the fresh charges could be brought up from the lower courts, which would allow for a staggered penalty to avoid the deportation trigger.

The court heard that the relationship between Bartholomew and his neighbour soured in December 2022 where there had been a complaint about noise, and that she told him to ‘**** off’.

Crown Prosecutor Nicole Friedewald said this triggered harassing behaviour on the part of Bartholomew which culminated in the Peace and Good Behaviour Order that was imposed in January 2023, and a conviction for public nuisance.

Ms Friedewald said the woman, acting on the advice of police, installed four CCTV cameras outside her home, including one pointed at Bartholomew’s front door and the shared driveway of their Newtown unit complex.

Over the following four months, CCTV captured increasingly bizarre acts performed by Bartholomew.

Video played to the court showed Bartholomew blowing kisses at the camera, shining a torch into it, waltzing with a sex doll and, on two occasions, simulating sex acts with the doll.

“The offending became sexually charged,” Ms Friedewald said.

The Crown also made reference to Bartholomew TikTok account which had more than 100,000 followers, where he made repeated references to the police, the courts and the complainant.

As a result of the repeated breaching, Bartholomew had his bail revoked and spent 67 days on remand in the Arthur Gorrie Correctional Centre.

The court heard that upon his release, Bartholomew had not reoffended.

In a victim impact statement read to the court, the complainant said she felt like she was trapped in the four walls of her home and that she had to take large amounts of time off from work due to stress.

In sentencing, Judge Smith described Bartholomew as a “neighbour from hell” and that his irrational behaviour stemmed from a drinking problem.

“There is an absence of remorse and a lack of insight,” Judge Smith said.

“This is a serious case and I could send you back to jail today, but you have done 67 days and wonder if there is any utility to that.

“You will be on a suspended sentence, and if you breach that you will be brought back and re-sentenced.

After pleading guilty to stalking and breaching a Peace and Good Behaviour Order, Bartholomew was placed on 12 months jail term, suspended for four years, and a two-year probation order.

The court also issued a five-year restraining order that prevents any contact between the parties.