January 23, 2014
A 41-year-old interstate truck driver who became obsessed with a woman who did not want to have a long-term relationship with him sent her more than 500 text messages, Kingaroy Magistrates Court was told today.
The man, who lives in Kingaroy, also called her landline and mobile phone hundreds of times at all hours of the night and day after they had spent a night together.
He also put multiple posts on her Facebook page.
Police Prosecutor Sgt Wayne Bushell said the text messages had ranged from friendly and polite to menacing, and had included threats to kill himself by crashing his truck into a tree.
There was also evidence many of the messages had been sent while the man was driving his B-double on interstate runs from Brisbane.
Sgt Bushell said the man, who pleaded guilty to stalking, had also driven his truck to the woman’s house and just parked it in the street outside.
When the woman blocked him on Facebook, changed her phone and moved house, the man contacted her brother and asked him to pass on messages.
Sgt Bushell said as the harassment continued, the woman’s entire family was in fear and her 13-year-old daughter was put into counselling.
The man also pleaded guilty to charges of using a telephone service to harass two other people: another woman and a man who knew both other victims.
The truck driver sent more than 500 text messages to this second woman and phoned her hundreds of times to “air his grievances” and make threats about self-harming.
He also sent a “significant amount” of text messages to the third victim, a man who was friends with both women, and phoned his home to make threats.
Sgt Bushell said the truck driver was arrested on November 23 last year and his mobile phone seized and the messages downloaded.
He said the pattern of behaviour was extremely disturbing because the man had been previously convicted in 2011 of stalking another woman and sentenced to a term in jail.
Magistrate Mark Bucknall said the charges were very concerning.
He sentenced the truck driver to 12 months jail on the stalking charge.
On the two telephone charges, he placed the man on 12 months probation with strict conditions which will be implemented upon his release from prison.
He fixed a parole release date of April 24.
Magistrate Bucknall also issued a restraining order that the man make no contact directly or indirectly with the first woman, not attend her residence or any place of employment.
