Max Jago: Launceston electrician guilty of using listening device

A “committed and conscientious” Launceston sparkie tracked his ex with a device, then activated it remotely in a police station to listen to private conversation between officers, a court has heard.

A Launceston electrician who tracked his ex-partner’s vehicle using a remote device which also had a listening function activated the device when his former partner handed it in to police, streaming private conversations between officers onto his phone.

Newnham resident George Maxwell Tregaskis-Jago, 28, more commonly known as ‘Max Jago’, previously pleaded not guilty to a charge of using a listening device to listen to a private conversation.

In Launceston Magistrates Court on Monday, Magistrate Simon Brown found Jago guilty of the charge, which was committed against officers deep within Launceston Police Station on Cimitiere St on August 24, 2020.

The court heard the tracking and listening device had originally been magnetically attached by Jago to the car driven by his ex-partner, with whom the relationship had recently imploded.

Jago’s tracking of his ex-girlfriend is not the subject of any criminal charges and he denied deliberately tracking her in his record of interview with police.

When the woman discovered the device, she handed it into Launceston Police, with a senior constable taking it deep within the station, leaving it on his desk while he investigated its capabilities online.

Meanwhile, Jago received a notification on his mobile phone, which was linked to the device, alerting him it had been removed from the vehicle.

After checking its location “a number of times”, confirming the device was now at the station, Jago switched on its microphone, where he heard snippets of conversation between officers, before the investigating officer realised it had a listening function and manually switched it off.

Breaking News Breaking News Newnham electrician George Maxwell Tregaskis-Jago, 28. Picture: Facebook

When interviewed by police, Jago freely admitted to switching the device on and hearing police conversations, but also said he “paid little attention to the conversation and couldn’t really remember it”.

However, Magistrate Brown told the court, once charged with the offence, Jago changed his tune, denying he switched the device on.

Under cross-examination previously, Jago told the court he had “no idea” why he told police he had done so and ascribed it to a “panic attack disorder”, Magistrate Brown said.

The magistrate slapped down this evidence.

“(It’s not) apparent to me that during the record of interview (with police) the defendant was particularly distressed or panicked or especially anxious,” Magistrate Brown said.

On behalf of Jago, defence solicitor Evan Hughes told the court his client had been in a new, “committed” relationship for about six months now and was an “accomplished” electrician who owned his own solar panel installation and maintenance business which turned over between $500,000–$1m per annum.

Since being charged, however, Jago’s work had dried up, with at least three near-certain contracts vanishing, leading to the loss of an estimated $50,000, Mr Hughes said.

He noted his client was otherwise an upstanding citizen, with only minor traffic matters in his history.

“(Jago) is a strongly committed and conscientious member of the community,” Mr Hughes told the court.

“He uses his position and business and skills to fundraise for a number of organisations (such as Beyond Blue).”

Mr Hughes noted Jago was the driving force behind a very popular Christmas display in Launceston which had been an annual occurrence since 2019 and had recently been replicated on Halloween also.

Jago was fined $1500. A conviction was recorded.