A Department of Defence employee was in a "frenzy" when he bombarded his former housemate with 27 unanswered calls and 100 texts in 24 hours, calling him a "bitch" and a "retard", a court has heard.
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Thomas Linden Wells, 43, fronted court on Monday after pleading guilty to stalking. His defence lawyer urged Acting Chief Magistrate Glenn Theakston to consider recording no conviction for the charge.
She said the circumstances of the case were complex, and a harassment offence would make it difficult for Wells to apply for more senior positions in the public service.
"He aspires to progress his career ... I am asking for an extraordinary sentence," she said.
The court heard Wells offered his victim - who was a friend at the time - a place to stay for a month when he became homeless in April last year. The man ended up staying for about three months instead.
When Wells asked him to leave, the man allegedly ran at him with an axe. The allegation is before the courts and is yet to be proved.
Wells took out a protection order against the man as a result, but in August, called him 27 times and sent him 100 texts in 24 hours.
He asked the man if he was "shaking like a scared little bitch", "shaking like a retard", and called him a c--- in the messages, the court heard. Wells' lawyer said while he made no excuses for his behaviour, he was hyper-vigilant and feared for his safety at the time of his offending.
Wells was couch surfing for two weeks after the man allegedly ran at him with the axe, and it was his first night back in the house when he made the calls, she said.
Acting Magistrate Theakston said he would have recorded no conviction over the stalking charge if Wells' case involved "a handful of calls or messages".
The "scale [and] the shear number of attempts" at contact made that option inappropriate, and Wells appeared to have been in a "frenzy", he said.
Acting Magistrate Theakston said Wells was otherwise of good character, and described the language he used in the texts as "odd".
"[It] perhaps in a way reflects the vulnerability and distorted thinking experienced by the defendant at the time," he said.
Wells was sentenced to serve a 15-month good behaviour order.