A MAN has been banned from Bendigo after stalking his wife with incessant phone calls and tailgating her car, a court has heard.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Bendigo man appeared at Bendigo Magistrates Court on Friday charged with stalking and six offences relating to breaches of bail conditions.
He was brought into custody on Wednesday after reports he was at his wife's address in breach of a family violence intervention order taken out against him earlier this year.
Police informant Leading Senior Constable Gary Boucher said the accused approached his wife of more than 20 years at a service station on July 29 and tried to talk to her.
When the woman drove away, he tailgated her for some distance before getting out of his car at a red light and walking towards her vehicle.
"She was scared the accused was going to run her off the road," Leading Senior Constable Boucher said.
He said the light turned green before he reached the car and the woman was able to lose him in traffic.
The court heard two days prior to the incident, the man phoned her 43 times in one day, becoming verbally abusive towards her before she stopped answering the calls.
On Wednesday, he allegedly knocked on his wife's door and was parked outside the house for some time before police arrested him a short distance from the home.
Leading Senior Constable Boucher said the man had an extensive criminal history dating back to 1973, with the most recent conviction in 2005.
He said police had also received eight family violence incident reports relating to his behaviour between 1997 and July this year, with at least the two most recent including physical violence.
Police opposed the man's bail application on the grounds he would be an unacceptable risk of reoffending, was likely to interfere with witnesses or the victim, and had committed an indictable offence while on bail.
The man's defence lawyer told the court the context around her client's alleged offending was complex and involved serious criminal allegations against the woman and her new partner.
She said her client was likely to contest some of the charges, and argued any police concerns about the man could be alleviated with bail conditions
The magistrate said the allegations against the man were serious.
"I have some real concerns... the bail conditions couldn't have been clearer," he said.
But he ultimately ruled the man could be bailed with strict bail conditions.
He ordered the man not go within a 10 kilometre radius of the Bendigo CBD and report to police three times a week.
The man is expected to reappear in court later this month.