Man made 100 calls to ex in 3 days

A Waimate man who bombarded his former girlfriend with more than 100 phone calls in three days has been convicted of breaching a protection order.

The woman took a call from Karlin Baldwin believing it concerned their 18-month-old daughter – but hung up when he demanded she justify her decision to end the two-year relationship, police prosecutor Sergeant Ian Howard told the Timaru District Court.

Baldwin pleaded guilty to contravening a protection order when he appeared before Judge Joanna Maze, who ordered that he come up for sentence if called upon over the next nine months.

‘‘If you are up before the court for contravening a protection order again, the judge dealing with the case may include this breach at sentencing,’’ the judge said.

The 26-year-old was served a temporary protection order on behalf of his former girlfriend on October 22, 2020. The order became final on January 23, 2021.

However, Baldwin rang the woman more than 100 times between February 13 and 16.

‘‘The complainant messaged the defendant and requested him to stop contacting her unless it was to do with her daughter, to whom they have a shared custody arrangement,’’ Howard said.

Their daughter was in Baldwin’s care when he called the woman at 11.43am on February 24.

Initially the call was about their daughter falling ill, but Baldwin steered it towards their broken relationship.

Defence lawyer Jay Lovely said Baldwin was attending a stopping violence course.

Judge Maze acknowledged there had been no unauthorised contact from Baldwin since the offending before the court.

‘‘You appear to have struggled to accept the end of the relationship,’’ the judge said.