By Cam Lucadou-Wells
A 22-year-old man faces at least a month in custody after abducting an ex-girlfriend from her Noble Park home in defiance of an intervention order.
The man, with his mother in tow, arrived on the victim’s doorstep and was requested to leave on the evening of 19 May, Dandenong Magistrates’ Court heard.
The accused lifted the victim by the waist, saying: “I’ll take you with me and we’ll talk about this at my house.”
Despite her pleas to desist, he carried her and forced her into the back seat of his Toyota sedan.
Then he drove, with the central locking activated to prevent the victim’s escape.
He drove on the Monash Freeway, yelling at her about the intervention order and accusing her of cheating on him.
Police established contact with the man on the victim’s phone.
He agreed to return the victim home but told her he’d kill himself if he had to go to the police station or jail.
According to the victim, the man had been resisting her attempts to break off their relationship for six months.
He had been persistently following her in his car and ringing her, and had punched and bruised her arm, prosecutor Senior Constable Ben Hodson told the court.
As she arrived outside Dandenong Magistrates’ Court to file for an intervention order on 12 May, the man drove up alongside her, wound down a window and confronted her.
Due to a “degree of naivety” – according to his lawyer – the man resisted police arrest and was sprayed with capsicum foam.
The man pleaded guilty to all charges at the hearing on 29 May.
His lawyer told the court that the man, who had been “struggling to deal with the reality that she was no longer with him”, now had insight into his offending.
He was keen to avoid a return to the cells after an “extremely confronting” 11 days in remand custody.
“All he says is he was in love with her. It spiralled out of control and now (he realises) it’s all over.
“He just wants to move on.”
Magistrate Pauline Spencer said she didn’t want to release the accused on bail or sentence him until he was psychiatrically assessed.
Ms Spencer noted the man’s “high-risk factors” such as “stalking-type behaviour” and making a threat to kill himself.
“False imprisonment is an extremely serious matter which has a significant maximum term.
“Despite his age, (further jail) is not out of range.”
Pending a psychiatric report, the man was remanded in custody for sentencing on 21 June.
