A 39-year-old Illawarra man has been handcuffed and led from a courtroom after being sentenced to prison for the frightening intimidation of his former girlfriend, an incident fuelled by what the judge described as 'sexual jealousy'.
Court proceedings
The man, who cannot be named to protect the victim, appeared before Wollongong Local Court on Wednesday wearing black and grey clothing. He had earlier pleaded guilty to three charges: contravening an Apprehended Domestic Violence Order (ADVO), intimidation, and entering with intent to intimidate.
Judge David Williams presided over the case, ultimately siding with the Crown prosecutor who argued that full-time custody was the only appropriate sentence given the man's 'considerable aggression' in the presence of children.
'It plainly warrants a sentence of jail,' Judge Williams stated.
The incidents
According to court documents, the father of three went to his former partner's home in Warrawong without invitation in the early hours of July 6 last year. He began yelling and screaming at the victim, threatening to harm himself if it was true she had been with another man.
'I hope you got that on f---ing camera c--t because I ain't coming back if I ever find out,' he said.
The court heard that children were home at the time, with one waking up and becoming distressed.
Then, on July 31, after the victim took her children to get milkshakes at Dapto Mall, she began receiving text messages from the man saying 'you make me sick'. He later called her at 10.17pm to ask, 'Am I interrupting anything? I know that someone's there, what am I interrupting?'
One minute later, as she was lying in bed, she heard banging on the door. When she opened the front door to look, the banging moved to the back door. At the same time, the man ran back to the front of the house and entered the home.
'Where the f--k is he? Where is he? I know he's here,' he said.
The woman described the man as 'psychotic' and 'on a rage' as he went bedroom by bedroom, opening doors and checking under furniture. The children were asleep during this, with one waking up and crying.
'You need to go, get the f--k out of my house,' the victim said. He left at 10.25pm after the victim asked him more than 20 times.
The following day, the victim continued to receive lengthy texts from the man professing his love for her while accusing her of breaking up their family. She reported the matters to police, noting there was an ADVO in place for her protection. The man was arrested on August 3.
Sentencing remarks
Defence lawyer Elizabeth Parkes argued that the death of the relationship and a lack of rational thinking were the context for her client's 'very frightening' behaviour. With the man on court orders at the time for matters involving the same victim, Ms Parkes did not dispute the section five threshold and asked the court to impose a community-based jail term.
However, the Crown prosecutor argued that full-time custody was the only appropriate sentence, given the man's 'considerable aggression' in the presence of children.
Judge Williams noted that the man had limited insight into his behaviour, justifying it by his feeling of loss and frustration.
'He seems to be motivated by sexual jealousy and the belief that the victim was in a relationship with someone else,' Judge Williams said. 'It was frankly none of his business.'
The man was sentenced to 16 months in jail with a non-parole period of nine months. With the sentence backdated to account for the two months he had already spent in custody, he will be eligible for release on parole in November.
