Text barrage stalking case

A GOLD Coast woman who bombarded her plastic surgeon with almost 5000 text messages in 10 months has pleaded guilty to stalking.

Cheryl Louise Brooks, 56, stalked Dr Lucas Stradwick with a barrage of texts and phone calls in a three-and-halfyear campaign of harassment after he dumped her as a patient, the Southport Magistrates Court was told yesterday.

The stalking included 4972 texts between February and December last year alone.

The text messages included “I can’t live without you” and “no-one else can have you”.

Police prosecutor Reece Foort told the court that even after Dr Stradwick blocked Brooks and changed phones, she still managed to get his number and phoned him up to 20 times a day.

Sgt Foort said while there were no actual threats, the stalking was “very concerning”.

Defence lawyer Nicole Jevtovic told the court her client was “extremely embarrassed”.

Ms Jevtovic said Brooks had been going through a “difficult break-up” with her husband of 25 years.

Brooks had also become estranged from her family over a will dispute, the court was told.

“This (the stalking) is not normal behaviour,” Ms Jevtovic told the court.

Magistrate Joan White said Brooks had shown remorse and “realised how concerning your actions were”.

“This is obviously very, very concerning behaviour for the victim,” Ms White said.

The magistrate said it was obvious Brooks was “under some sort of mental health stress”. Ms White fined Brooks $1200 and issued a two-year restraining order requiring her to have no contact with Dr Stradwick.