A prisoner verbally abused the mother of his daughter on the phone, and called her 89 times when he was not legally allowed to make contact with her at all.
Beven John Gleeson, 34 of Launceston, had an 11-month prison sentence for unrelated matters extended on Tuesday when he pleaded guilty to the swathe of family violence breaches in the Launceston Magistrates Court.
Gleeson had earlier entered pleas of not guilty, but he changed his plea before his case would have gone to what Magistrate Ken Stanton described as a "very lengthy" hearing.
Police prosecutor Matt Hills told the court Gleeson had been recorded calling his former partner and five-year-old daughter, using the Risdon Prison phones.
Mr Hills told the court when Gleeson realised those calls were being recorded he used the phoning out service of a fellow prison to again make contact with the woman and the daughter, both of whom he was not illegally allowed to contact by way of a family violence order imposed against him on February 26.
The court heard the other inmate was a relative of Gleeson's former partner.
The 89 calls were made over a period of seven months, from February 28 until September 25, and Gleeson had started making the calls after he had been remanded after evading police in what proved to be a stolen vehicle.
Gleeson's defence counsel, Evan Hughes, told Mr Stanton there were a number of factors to consider in sentencing.
"[Gleeson's] desire to contact the complainant and the child presented forces too great to resist," he said.
Mr Hughes told the court the complainant had facilitated the calls, evidenced by the fact each call would have been premised with a message explaining it had been made from a prisoner at Risdon Prison.
Mr Hughes also explained that Gleeson had told him during his current stint in the prison he spent about four out of every seven days in his cell because of the prison's regular lockdowns.
"[He's been] lucky to have had a full day out of lockdown," Mr Hughes said.
The court also heard Gleeson had not undertaken any family violence counselling, but not because he had not tried, instead due to "the environment" making it that he "just can't access it".
Mr Stanton retired temporarily to consider how he would sentence Gleeson, before returning to dole out a further six months behind bars for the prolific offender.
Mr Stanton said Gleeson showed a continued "disregard for the law in a broad range of areas" when considering the breaches, other offences he was facing including driving under the influence and without a licence, and his prior convictions.
"The number of calls ... indicates a persistent and deliberate defiance," Mr Stanton said.
"[The deliberateness] is underlined by using other people's accounts ... you had to work around the [family violence] order to make the phone calls on occasion.
"Breaches [of family violence orders] are always matters of substance and a stern view is required.
"[This offending was] deliberate, persistent, calculated and blatant.
[This offending was] deliberate, persistent, calculated and blatant.
- Magistrate Ken Stanton
"You are convicted on all the counts to which you plead guilty and are sentenced to a period of six months cumulative to any sentence you are currently serving."
Mr Stanton said three months of Gleeson's six month sentence would be suspended, meaning he could remain behind bars until April 23, 2022.
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