Australind man John Douglas Hamilton Terry jailed for breaching restraining order, a day after avoiding jail

An Australind man has been jailed for 10 months after breaching a family violence restraining order multiple times to contact his ex-wife, just a day after avoiding jail for offending in the same way, but has avoided being declared a serial family violence offender. John Douglas Hamilton Terry appeared in the Bunbury Magistrate’s Court via video link from Bunbury Regional Prison on Friday where he was jailed for three counts of breaching a family violence restraining order. Terry was also jailed for breaching a conditional suspended imprisonment order he was placed on in February for 10 counts of breaching a family violence restraining order. The court was told Terry sent a lengthy email to his ex-partner during the morning of February 8, the day after he was placed on the conditional suspended imprisonment order. Two days later, Terry sent a series of text messages to the protected person and then was sighted pushing his bicycle outside the protected person’s home during the morning of February 11. Terry was first served with a family violence restraining order in December last year, barring physical contact with his former partner but allowing him to communicate with her electronically in regard to their children. A serial family violence offender declaration application was also made by the prosecution. In submissions, the court was told Terry was going through the “emotional rollercoaster” of a marriage breakdown at the time of offending. However, Terry’s defence counsel Michael Joubert told the court his client had since come to the realisation that his own doing placed him in custody. It was also submitted that while the violence restraining order breaches were persistent, these were not violent or threatening towards the victim. In sentencing, Magistrate Benjamin Tyers noted the offending was “almost identical” to Terry’s previous offending, and described Terry’s conduct as “persistent” and “manipulative”. Mr Tyers also said it was concerning that Terry breached the conditional suspended imprisonment order a day after agreeing with another magistrate that his conduct “could have felt threatening and intimidating for the victim”. “You went back into old habits,” he said. “You repeatedly refused to accept the authority of a court order.” However, Mr Tyers took the view that it was “premature” to declare Terry a serial family violence offender, but warned an application may be successful if he offends in a similar way in the future. Terry’s jail term was backdated to February 13 and will be eligible for parole in July.