A Warrnambool man who persistently breached an intervention order by calling a protected person more than 600 times in 12 days has been jailed.
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The 32-year-old, who cannot be named because that could identify the victim, pleaded guilty in Warrnambool Magistrates Court on Monday to charges, including persistently breaching an intervention order and stalking.
He was jailed for eight months.
The court heard the man and the female victim were in a relationship that ended in October 2018.
Since the break up, numerous intervention orders were put in place in an attempt to protect the victim and prevent the man from contacting her.
But the man repeatedly called the victim from different phone numbers, often ranting, raving and yelling.
On one occasion he told the victim that the next thing she would see was his "cold body".
On August 26, 2019, the victim received 100 missed calls from the victim and close to 40 abusive voice messages.
Three days later he called her again, this time asking for "one more chance" and apologising for his behaviour.
He was arrested on September 17, 2019, interviewed, charged with family violence-related offences and released on bail.
Within hours of his release from custody, the man rang the victim a large number of times and sent her numerous text messages.
Between August 22 and october 2, 2019, the man made 642 phone calls to the victim, including 201 unanswered calls and 67 text messages.
On another occasion he attended her home and sat outside for more than six hours, making hand gestures to a CCTV camera.
He sent her a message saying he would "send guys to come bash you".
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The court heard the victim was anxious and jumped in fear every time her phone rang.
Solicitor Bernard Campigli said the man was a promising footballer who lost prospects of being invited to the AFL national draft after he was convicted of intentionally causing injury.
He said that was followed by a death of a friend and an addiction to methamphetamine.
He said the man spent about 10 years trying to reboot his football career but continuously spiralled out of control.
Mr Campigli said when the relationship ended in 2019, his client's methamphetamine addiction grew worse, leading to delusions and paranoia.
"He spent 50 days on remand over the Christmas period and into early 2021, he detoxed in custody and has remained offence-free for two years," he said.
The man also pleaded guilty to breaching his bail and driving an unregistered motor vehicle, and was fined a combined $1176.
Help is available, call 1800RESPECT. In an emergency, call 000.
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