Portland man Ismet Brahimi jailed for at least 14 months

Ismet Brahimi appeared remotely in Warrnambool Magistrates Court on September 28.

He was initially listed to apply for appeal bail which if successful would have seen him released back into the community while he awaited his next court date.

But his lawyer Tom Acutt said Brahimi had decided to abandon the hearing.

He said a week earlier his client had indicated he planned to appeal both the conviction and sentence handed down in the same court.

Brahimi said he would now only appeal the sentence, the lawyer said.

The man will face court at a later date.

He appeared in court via a video-link from a Melbourne prison.

Earlier: A Portland man who stalked victims including two teenage girls with graffiti, letters and abusive and insulting telephone calls has been jailed.

Ismet Brahimi, 51, was found guilty in the Warrnambool Magistrates Court to nine charges, including multiple counts of stalking, using a carriage service to harass, sending harassing text messages and stalking using graffiti and text messages.

He was jailed for 21 months with 14 months to be served before being eligible for parole.

Three charges of using a carriage service to harass attracted a further six-month term of imprisonment which was suspended for three years.

Magistrate Gerard Lethbridge found the victim received abuse directly and indirectly, including insulting and degrading messages and public graffiti which was made by Brahimi.

The graffiti was in Portland public toilets and was strikingly similar in spelling, themes and subjects.

The material also involved common expressions, grievances and sexualised messages.

Brahimi was also in Tamworth, Narrawong and Hamilton when calls were made.

The magistrate found the number of people who could have been responsible was very small and Brahimi's account to police was evasive and contradictory, involving false denials.

He said while on its own each piece of evidence was small, the accumulative effect was sufficient to solidly prove the case beyond reasonable doubt.

Victim impact statements were also tendered to the court and a lawyer for Brahimi admitted his client's offending was serious and committed over a significant period of time.

He said a term of imprisonment was almost inevitable and the magistrate agreed, adding rehabilitation could be addressed through the parole board.

The lawyer said Brahimi had a chest condition which required him to take two breaths to a normal person's one after a bike accident as a child.

He said Brahimi had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, depression, diabetes and high cholesterol, but his criminal prior history was not relevant.

The police prosecutor called for an immediate jail term, saying the offending had been committed over a couple of years, was elaborate, involved children and was repeated and public.

The magistrate said the victim impact statements showed the effect of Brahimi's shockingly abusive and insulting material.

Mr Lethbridge found Brahimi's conduct was persistent and premeditated against a child and her mother.

He said the offending communication was read to the court and was best described as extremely sexually graphic and abusive.

The magistrate said the offending happened over a protracted period of time but there were no actual physical threats so it fell short of the worst category of such offences.

"The extremely abusive and sexualised nature was nonetheless terrifying. Your conduct was shameful," Mr Lethbridge said.

The magistrate said it was difficult to judge Brahimi's prospects for rehabilitation because there was no explanation for the offending.

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