THE credibility of violence restraining orders (VRO) took another hit in Mandurah Magistrates Court on Friday after a man was granted a spent conviction despite breaching his VRO twice in the space of a month.
The man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of his victim, pleaded guilty to breaching a VRO put in place by his ex-wife to protect her and the couple’s two children.
The court heard the man was served the VRO at his Golden Bay home in November, with the usual conditions not to contact or attempt to contact the victim, but just weeks later made the decision to approach his ex-wife at a nearby park.
The man demanded to know who the man was she was walking with at the time before driving away.
Later that day he pulled onto the verge of his ex-wife’s house and asked to speak to the couple’s children.
The court heard he was just metres from his ex-wife at the time.
A witness intervened and asked the man to leave.
Three weeks later the man texted his ex-wife twice in the space of a couple of hours, despite the order still in place.
Counsel for the man argued “things had become nasty” between the couple and that her client just wanted to see the children.
She described the incident at a nearby park as a “situation that got out of hand” and asked Magistrate Vivien Edwards to grant the man a spent conviction, meaning he would not have to disclose he was twice convicted of breaching a VRO.
Counsel for the man also argued his employment in the mines might be in jeopardy.
Magistrate Vivien Edwards granted the man the spent conviction and fined him $1000.
The penalty pales in comparison to tough new VRO laws set out by Attorney General Michael Mischin in 2012.
Under the bold ‘three-strike’ policy, offenders convicted of a third breach of VRO would serve an immediate prison term.
But when statistics revealed less than half those convicted of VRO breaches went to jail, Mr Mischin appealed to the Law Reform Commission to tighten the laws.
Despite the spent conviction, the court heard the man no longer knows where his ex-wife and children live after they moved following the two incidents.
