A man has now faced the consequences for breaching an AVO, with Inverell Local Court hearing claims he broke it under the assumption his child may have been in danger.
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The 29-year-old man now living in Warialda was charged with contravening an AVO against his ex-partner, after he saw what he believed to be her car "tearing out" of the street near the Tatts' Hotel.
Magistrate Holly Kemp said the facts were "unsavory", and noted the good behaviour bond he was on previously had expired "just the day before" this breach occurred.
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She said if it wasn't for his participation in a rural outreach program and the positive steps he had taken since then, he would most likely have been facing jail time.
Solicitor Stephen Collins, the accused's representative, explained the man had become overwhelmed with fear for the child's welfare on August 27.
The mother of your child deserves dignity and respect.
- Magistrate Holly Kemp
"He decided the AVO compliance was less important than the safety of his son," Mr Collins outlined.
Text messages were tendered as evidence to the court, and showed the man asking after his young child.
"F*** me I hope [son] aint in ya car. Ya car come tearing out of the street neat Tatts. F***ing flat. I just hope he wasn't."
However the exchange became even more heated as further texts were sent.
"Check fb Imma show all haha your threats an leveraging my own boy against me when I ask bout safety hsha(sic)," one read.
"Don't crash your car driving like a f***witt hey."
The woman, an unspecified amount of time later, went to police to report the breach and provided a statement.
Police went to visit the man on December 27 to arrest and caution him.
However officers assessed the situation, finding that he had moved away from Inverell right after the incident had taken place, and no contact with his ex had been made since then.
With the AVO still in order and the "lengthy" amount of time without incident since the breach took place, they found the conditions for arrest couldn't be met, and issued him with a field court attendance notice instead.
Magistrate Kemp told the man that no matter how concerned he was at the time, the court had put in place an AVO to protect and keep his ex safe.
"The mother of your child deserves dignity and respect," she stated.
Taking into account his positive steps and his early plea, she convicted him with a supervised community corrections order for 12 months.
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