A man in a senior role at a Canberra building company has been sentenced after admitting stalking his ex-partner.
"I will never be able to find the right words to describe how this has altered my life and what it has actually cost me," the victim wrote in an impact statement to the court.
She said the man's actions were an "unwanted intrusion and a profound violation of my personal freedom and security".
The ACT building boss, who is not named because doing so would illegally identify the victim as an applicant of a family violence protection order, faced an ACT Magistrates Court sentencing late last month.
He was convicted and received a 15-month good behaviour order after admitting to a single charge of stalking.
Court documents previously tendered to the court detail the offending conduct.
The builder was served with a family violence order in June 2023 prohibiting him from being within 100 metres of the victim or contacting her, among other conditions.
He breached that protection order by visiting the busy inner-city street where the victim lived, on one occasion approaching her at a venue located within 100 metres of her home.
When the pair spoke outside the venue, he became emotional and said words to the effect of: "I just want to see you."
He then tried calling her later that night.
When the victim called the man back shortly after, she recorded him admitting to driving up and down the street in question "daily" searching for her.
The victim eventually took part in a police interview and the man was arrested in August 2023.
The following month, on two consecutive days, he attended a cafe "approximately 103 metres" from the victim's home. Her home is said to be visible from the venue.
"Over the course of about five minutes, police observed the defendant stand up on two occasions and look in the direction of [the victim's] residence," court documents said.
The builder was again arrested.
In her victim impact statement, the woman described how her ex-partner's stalking affected every aspect of her life. She recounted how she had at times felt she was losing her mind, questioning her own experience.
"This has been extremely taxing on myself and those involved but also humiliating, completely removing my independence," she wrote.
"I have felt too scared to walk through my neighbourhood, something other people can do without even thinking, for fear of [the man] tracking my movements or approaching me."
The stalker was convicted only a week before another builder, 35-year-old Brendan Howe, of Homes by Howe, was sentenced for assaulting his pregnant wife.
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Support is available for those who may be distressed. Phone Lifeline 13 11 14; 1800-RESPECT 1800 737 732.
