A Warrnambool man who repeatedly stalked, harassed and assaulted his former partner was remanded in custody where he attempted to intimidate her into remaining silent.
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The 29-year-old man, who cannot be named because it could identify the victim, appeared in Warrnambool Magistrates Court on Wednesday charged with 12 offences, including the persistent breach of a family violence intervention order, unlawful assault, threat to inflict serious injury, stalking and trafficking methamphetamine.
The court heard the pair was in an on-and-off-again relationship for about eight years.
Then in February 2018, a court order was made which prohibited the man from contacting the victim, or remaining within five metres of her house.
The order has an expiry date of 2060.
The man attended the victim's home in September last year, about one month after he was released from jail after serving 18 months for charges of stalking and making threats to kill.
He then became increasingly abusive in the days that followed, the court heard, repeatedly making video calls to the woman to make sure she was not with anyone else.
He attended the woman's house on numerous occasions and yelled at her.
On one occasion, when the victim refused to respond to his abuse, he punched her twice to the middle of the back.
Just days later, he punched her to the chest, arms and jaw.
The court heard between September 23 and October 6, the man sent 817 text messages in breach of the court order.
Of those messages, 111 included demands she turn on her mobile phone location services so he could track her whereabouts, and 18 were threats to damage her property and physically or sexually assault her.
The court heard the man threatened to distribute the victim's intimate images and told her that if she contacted police, she would "end up a vegetable".
The man was arrested at his home on October 8.
A search of the property located $4310 cash believed to be proceeds of crime, electronic scales, empty deal bags and half a gram of methamphetamine.
He was interviewed, charged and remanded in custody.
While in prison, the man urged the victim to make a statement of no complaint.
Magistrate Peter Mellas said the offending was "incredibly serious conduct".
"This is now the second person he's been in a domestic relationship with who has had to suffer his inability to control his methamphetamine use and his inability to respond appropriately to attempts to have him control his behaviour," he said.
"A fair degree of community protection, and protection of the victim, is required here."
The man will be sentenced on August 14.
He has spent 289 days in custody on remand.
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