The defendant, who cannot be named for legal reasons, faced Brisbane District Court after pleading guilty to 28 charges related to intimidating the woman through phone calls, social media messages and posting pictures of her children online.

The charges included unlawful stalking and stealing as domestic violence offences and numerous counts of contravening a domestic violence order with aggravating circumstances.

Crown prosecutor Sarah McCray said the defendant, aged in his 40s, had previously been jailed for sexually assaulting two women while he was a police officer and had attended court for other domestic violence offences.

Ms McCray said the victim, aged in her 30s, had ended an on-and-off again relationship with the defendant and he responded by committing the stalking offences over four-and-a-half months.

“He turned up to her house uninvited, he made threats against her in public and transferred her sums of money with messages attached” Ms McCray said.

“The stalking included making contact with the complainant’s (teenage) daughter.”

The defendant also approached the victim when she was out at a pub with her new partner and called her a “skank” before telling her he would slit her partner’s throat.

“(The offences) had an emotional impact on the complainant and her family. She has stated how she found it difficult to escape,” Ms McCray said.

“These were not isolated incidents and the victim was targeted in a very deliberate and calculating manner along with her daughter.”

Defence barrister Emily Lewsey said her client had suffered an abusive and unstable childhood that included attending 19 different schools in one year.

“There is a clinical assessment that he perhaps has post-traumatic stress and underlying psychiatric problems … he is looking forward to receiving further mental health treatment,” Ms Lewsey said.

“He has completed the Men’s Behaviour Change Program and has not reoffended in the past 22 months, which is something not often seen from people on a stalking charge.

“He realises his actions were unacceptable … he says he was drunk during some of the behaviour and it’s not the way he wants to be.”

Judge Jeffrey Clarke said it was concerning that the defendant had targeted women younger than himself and used police-issue equipment to aid in his past sexual assaults.

“Obviously jealous or informed by your need to dominate or control, you made serious threats to (the stalking victim) or her daughter or her new partner,” Judge Clarke said.

“You stalked her, you surveilled her and her family both in the community and online, you sent her gifts and made loving comments no doubt to play with her mind.

“The persistence of your repeated intrusion, coercion and control of your former domestic partner all served your purpose to make her feel scared.”

The defendant was sentenced to two-and-a-half years’ imprisonment with the sentence to be suspended after serving 10 months.

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