A man accused of stalking his ex-partner has been loudly scolded in court after an alleged family violence order breach.
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"Court orders are not to be disregarded and if you breach them again, you can expect the full weight of the law to come down on you," magistrate James Lawton told the man on Wednesday.
"I cannot make it any clearer. You have been warned."
The tense interaction came moments before the 37-year-old man, who is not named to protect the alleged victim's identity, was granted bail.
Mr Lawton dropped his calm demeanour, leaned forward from the bench, raised his voice and stared intently at the alleged offender to deliver the stern warning.
"If you breach a single [bail] condition, you can be confident I will remand you in custody for as long as necessary," the magistrate said.
The man is yet to enter pleas to charges of aggravated stalking, using a carriage service to harass and contravening a family violence order.
"You told those dumb f--- half-pig wannabies I was harassing you? ... What in f---s name. You called the filth on me?" he texted his ex-partner of four years an hour after being served a family violence order.
The temporary order, issued in the early hours of the morning last month after the man refused to leave his ex-partner's home, barred him from contacting the woman.
She would later receive over 30 unanswered text messages from the man's number, in which he told her he was "not some some crazy lunatic". She received dozens more in the coming days.
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Later that week and earlier this month, after a special interim family violence order had been granted, he allegedly yelled outside her home while throwing sticks over her fence.
Police arrived and she showed officers messages from the man's number, including "how f---ing dare you" and "I AM NEVER GOING AWAY".
She had received more the 65 calls from a no caller ID in the previous 24 hours.
Prosecutor Ilsa Hattam, who opposed the bail application, the man's second, described the crime as a "concerning escalation of offending".
Legal Aid lawyer Jeremy Banwell said his client's 20 days in custody had had a "significant deterrent effect" and said any order breaches "would be detected very, very quickly".
Mr Lawton said he was not surprised another magistrate had denied the alleged offender's previous bail application.
However, he granted the latest bid for condition freedom and said the time in custody "hopefully has been a wake up call".
Tim Piccione
Tim is a journalist with the Canberra Times covering the ACT courts. He came to the nation's capital via the Daily Advertiser in Wagga. Contact: tim.piccione@canberratimes.com.au.
Tim is a journalist with the Canberra Times covering the ACT courts. He came to the nation's capital via the Daily Advertiser in Wagga. Contact: tim.piccione@canberratimes.com.au.
