South West meth addict avoids serial family violence offender tage despite more than 2000 threatening calls

Despite plaguing his ex-partner with more than 3000 meth-fuelled threatening calls and messages, a South West man will not be named a serial family violence offender. From October 2020 until June 2021, Jerome Trent Stack called his ex-partner 2390 times, sent 1640 text messages and left 272 voice messages, harassing and threatening his ex-partner despite having a family violence restraining order in place. Messages included telling her he would kill her, stab her, and terrorise her. Even after the man was arrested in March 2021 and placed in custody at Bunbury Regional Prison, he continued to have his family send messages to his ex-partner, threatening her and asking her to drop the order so he could leave prison. The 28-year-old pleaded guilty at Busselton Magistrates Court this week to 49 charges of breaching a FVRO, aggravated stalking, and using a carriage service to harass a person. Through his guilty pleas, Stack, pictured, was in breach of a suspended imprisonment sentence imposed in September for similar charges after he hunted down the same woman, who had fled to Port Geographe for refuge, then refused to leave without her, and threatened and harassed her. It was revealed in court that before Stack had been arrested, he had spiralled into a methamphetamine addiction, which was the catalyst for his aggressive behaviour. Defence lawyer Michael Laurino told the court since Stack had been remanded in custody and passed the withdrawal stage, he had begun to seek rehabilitation and therapy, which he planned to continue on his release. It was revealed in court, despite her fear of the man and the trauma she had experienced, Stack’s ex-partner had been willing to develop a parental plan so he could see his children. While the police prosecutor applied to have the man labelled a serial family violence offender because of his repeated breaches, Magistrate Belinda Coleman said she felt it would be detrimental to his rehabilitation. “This offending was prolonged, sustained abusive behaviour ... the sheer magnitude of this offending absolutely astounds me,” she said. “I gave you an opportunity in August last year, you made promises to the court about your behaviour, but there was essentially a month before you commenced offending again. “It’s such a shame you hadn’t managed to get (your meth addiction) under control because it’s very clear to me you want to have a relationship with your children and you want to do the right thing, but unfortunately when you are struggling with your addiction to meth and other substances it’s not possible to do. “Do I think this behaviour is abhorrent? Absolutely ... but it seems like you’re trying to turn things around. “If you remain on track then I don’t think you are going to be a significant risk to a partner in the future.” Stack was sentenced to two years prison, backdated to his March arrest, with another 10 months for breaching the suspended imprisonment order.