DV attacker photographed victim giving evidence, found guilty of contempt of court
Prosecutors opposed the man's release on bail. (ABC News: Che Chorley)
In short:
A man who photographed a domestic violence victim in court should be jailed, the state's top prosecutor says.
The man also sent the victim and prosecutor threatening messages in a 'very serious example' of contempt of court.
What's next?
He will be sentenced next month.
A man standing trial for serious domestic violence offending photographed his victim giving evidence and "sinisterly" filmed a prosecutor near the courtroom's entrance, a court has heard.
South Australia's top prosecutor said the 31-year-old man, who ABC News has chosen not to name to protect the identity of the victim, should be jailed for the conduct in the District Court last year.
In a hearing last week, the court heard the man also sent the woman threatening messages during the trial — which she did not see until later — including a threat to "shiv" her, saying "you're dead" and referring to her as a "dog".
She had given evidence via video link from a vulnerable witness suite.
The court heard his domestic violence offending involved smashing a dinner plate over her head, causing a "permanent disfigurement in the form of a scar that is a reminder for her everyday".
He was found guilty of a charge of aggravated recklessly causing serious harm for that incident.
Last week the court heard, on the night he was found guilty of the domestic assault, the man emailed the prosecutor using a fake name — but from an email address bearing his own name — that said the prosecutor should "prosecute actual perpetrators not just follow a bias and common dogma".
The man later pleaded guilty to four counts of contempt for the photos, video and messages he sent to the victim and prosecutor during and after the trial.
In a pre-sentence hearing for the violence and contempt charges, Director of Public Prosecutions, Martin Hinton KC, told the court the man's conduct was "a very serious example" of contempt and must attract a "deterrent" prison term which should not be suspended or served on home detention.
Martin Hinton KC says the contempt charges should be penalised with a prison term. (ABC News: Ethan Rix)
Mr Hinton said imposing a sentence which would deter others from similar contempt offending was "of the upmost importance" given the conduct impacted "any lawyer coming to this court to do their job".
"The importance that they be protected by the court, ensuring that they can do their job in the interests of the administration of justice — that is something that gives rise to a deterrent sentence," he said.
"The photographing of the prosecutor in the precincts of the court objectively is particularly sinister.
"Sitting behind all this is not simply intimidation, there is a threat. That is particularly serious."
Image taken while sitting in the dock
Documents filed to the court noted the man had angled his mobile phone toward a screen in the dock while the woman was giving evidence, before placing it back in his pocket.
The documents also stated that the prosecutor had reported to the court that he had observed him "holding a phone at stomach height" while he was near the entrance of the courtroom and following his direction.
The man was subsequently arrested and police discovered several images of the victim and videos of the prosecutor — one of which included audio suggesting the prosecutor was "gonna get shot" — along with the messages he sent to each of them.
He has since been held in custody as he awaits sentencing.
Mr Hinton said the man's domestic violence offending was "not isolated", but "part of a relationship in which there was constant and ongoing domestic violence" including financial and emotional control.
'Living on eggshells'
In her victim impact statement, which Mr Hinton read to the court on her behalf, the woman said the "permanent scar" across her face was "very visible", continued to hurt and was a constant source of anxiety and insecurity.
The woman said she was still recovering from the effects of the former relationship, during which she had felt "emotionally and financially trapped".
"He made me believe I deserved to be hurt if I didn't behave a certain way," she said.
"I was never allowed to have anything nice … he would break my nice things just to hurt me.
"I never felt like I could ever put myself first as I felt like I was constantly living on eggshells and stuck in survival mode."
The man used a mobile phone to capture an image of his victim giving evidence while he sat in a court dock. (Lorin Both: Unsplash)
The man's lawyer, Andrew Graham, urged the court to impose a home detention sentence for the contempt and violence offending, or a partially suspended sentence which would lead to his imminent release.
He said his client had endured a difficult upbringing, including a diagnosis of autism and delayed speech development, which he said was "relevant in understanding the dynamics in the relationship".
Mr Graham said the former couple's relationship was "turbulent" and "volatile" and that his client had used drugs as a "maladaptive coping strategy".
He also said his client had pleaded to the contempt charges "very early".
Mr Graham told the court the intent of the messages was "sounding off" rather than "threatening", explaining that because his client was not neurotypical he "doesn't see the world the same way we do".
"So that's why I make the submission about the contempt not being with an intent to threaten and he's expressing his displeasure,"he said.
Mr Hinton disagreed with those submissions and said there was "nothing hollow about those threats".
The man will be sentenced for the domestic violence and contempt offences next month.