A MAN who attempted to call his ex-girlfriend almost 4000 times in just over one month from an unknown number has been placed on an 18 month community corrections order and given 100 hours community work.
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The man, from Kangaroo Flat, pleaded guilty to one charge of stalking and 12 charges of persistent breaches of a family violence order in the Bendigo Magistrates' Court on Friday.
Prosecutor Senior Constable Martin Friend said the offending started on October 22 last year after the victim ended a four-year relationship with the accused and had an interim intervention order taken out.
The order was served on October 21, but the man attempted to make 14 phone calls to the victim the next day with the caller ID switched off.
He then attempted to make 332 calls from 11am until 11pm on October 23. The victim answered one call at 4pm and recognised the accused "saying random words".
After another 120 calls during the next five days, the victim took out a full intervention order.
During the next month, the man made almost 3500 calls to the victim with the caller ID switched off.
The court heard on some of the days, the calls were consistently made for a full 24 hours from midnight.
These included days of 195, 189 and 187 calls before he was brought to the Bendigo Police Station on November 28.
The man said he "only called a couple of times and texted", and said he had no clue of the number of calls.
In a victim impact statement, his ex-partner said she was fearful for the safety of herself and her children as there had been a "regular threat of harm".
She said she was afraid of leaving the house alone and had to change her phone number.
She said the man had to "grow up and start acting like a father".
Defence counsel Luke Docherty said a psychological report showed the man was "possibly intellectually disabled" and was diagnosed with "adjustment disorder" in relation to the breakdown of the relationship.
"He was simply not able to deal with the situation like others would," he said.
The man is seeing his children regularly again.
Magistrate Richard Wright said it was positive to see the man had stopped his offending and had been trusted to see his children.
"I note you haven't been in trouble since, but this was pretty gross activity over a protracted period," he said.
The man was convicted, placed on an 18 month community corrections order, must complete 100 hours of unpaid community work and be assessed for mental health conditions.
His identity has been withheld for legal purposes.
