By Cam Lucadou-Wells
A 39-year-old Narre Warren father is fighting a further jail term for sending a barrage of foul-mouthed texts and threats to publish intimate photos of his ex-partner.
A day after his release from jail in October, the man sent two photos of his “partially naked” ex-partner to her, with the message “not to f*** me around”, a court heard.
He warned that intimate photos and videos of her would otherwise be spread on Facebook.
On the same day, he texted her that the Department of Health and Human Services would “love” the photos of her.
The man was on an 18-month community corrections order at the time, and also faced a driving-while-suspended charge in Noble Park in January.
Pleading guilty, he told the court that his ex-partner had ground his business down while he was in jail.
He was demanding the $30,000 that she’d “stolen” from the enterprise, he claimed.
A defence lawyer said the man was trying to turn his life around, was complying “in large measure” with his corrections order and no longer using meth.
“That relationship (with his ex-partner) is well and truly over,” the lawyer said.
“It was a fairly destructive one for both of them.”
The lawyer said “there was enough there” for the man to remain on an extended corrections order.
“He’s approaching middle age, he’s not a young fellow.
“He would be in a very difficult position when he’s released.”
Magistrate Jack Vandersteen noted the man’s prior offences leading to his corrections order in 2016 were “not dissimilar” to his latest charges.
On that occasion, the man had made comments for his ex-partner to jump off the West Gate Bridge.
The latest abuse was “incredibly sharp and terse, to put it mildly,” Mr Vandersteen said.
He cancelled the man’s corrections order, and resentenced him for prior offences associated with the order.
The man was jailed for 90 days, but was soon after bailed to appeal the sentence at the Victorian County Court.
