A WOMAN who bombarded her former husband and his new girlfriend with abusive and threatening text messages has been placed on a bond for nine months after pleading guilty to elements of the charge against her.
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Fiona Louise Corcoran, 33, of Rankin Street, Bathurst, appeared before magistrate Michael Allen in Bathurst Local Court earlier this month charged with using a carriage service to menace, harass or offend.
She entered a plea of guilty back in January, with Mr Allen dealing with the matter by way of a section 19B (1) d self recognizance bond, with Corcoran to be of good behaviour for nine months.
No conviction was recorded.
The court heard Corcoran is the ex-wife of the victim, whose new partner was also harassed by the accused.
The court heard Corcoran had sent hundreds of text messages, made hundreds of phone calls and sent numerous Facebook messages to both victims since January 2016.
Police facts outlined Corcoran had no reason to contact her former partner's new girlfriend, and most of the messages sent were abusive in nature.
The court was told several of the messages were of a nature that although they were not direct threats, their content could be taken as threatening, and included anything from physical harm to public humiliation.
In one of the calls she made, Corcoran said: "I'll make sure [the victim] isn't around anymore.”
The court also heard how one of the victims does not go into town on her own for fear of the accused following her.
The victims indicated to police that due to the circumstances in which they came together, they felt they deserved to suffer the accused's anger, but after 11 months of stress, fear and harassment, they were unable to continue putting up with the abuse.
Both victims were stressed and fearful and were hesitant to proceed via way of charges against Corcoran.
When police interviewed the victims, one cried when describing the behaviour of the accused.
When Corcoran was interviewed by police, she made admissions to making harassing calls, emails and text messages, indicating she was angry.
She said she realised she was wrong and was sorry for her behaviour.
References tendered to the court spoke of an otherwise caring, loving mother full of regret for her actions, which were described as "totally out of character".