“I’m not threatening you, I’m warning you”

Thursday 10 January 2019

A man has been warned in court to “get things back on track” after 'drunk-texting' a woman who has a restraining order against him, telling her that she had “destroyed” him.

Miroslaw Jozef Czapkowski (35) appeared in the Magistrate’s Court this week.

The Court also heard that Czapkowski tried to contact the woman indirectly by asking someone else to speak to her on his behalf.

Legal Adviser Carla Carvalho told Assistant Magistrate Peter Harris that receiving these texts made the woman feel “anxious” and “very scared”, explaining that the breaches of the restraining order meant Czapkowski had also violated two previously imposed court orders.

Czapkowski was represented by Advocate Adam Harrison, who explained that the breaches were the result of Czapkowski’s “relapse” after a period of not drinking amid a period of “considerable stress”.

Pictured: Advocate Adam Harrison represented Miroslaw Jozef Czapkowski when he appeared in the Magistrate's Court this week.

The Advocate said that this had led him to “self-medicate” which “rapidly spiralled” into his offending. 

“These attempts to contact were just that… they were not for example threats of violence or anything of that nature… He is genuine in his expression of remorse, guilt and shame," Advocate Harrison continued. 

He added that his client “acknowledges that if he consumes alcohol in the future he may well lose everything”, before explaining the proactive measures Czapkowski had recently taken to control his alcohol dependency.

Advocate Harrison subsequently asked the court to impose another probation order, and an additional order requiring Czapkowski to stick to a treatment plan to help him stay sober.

Having heard both sides of the case, the Assistant Magistrate spoke to Czapkowski directly, commenting that “the last six months has been something of an up and down experience” as well as speculating that receiving the text messages would have been “distressing” for the woman concerned.

Pictured: The Assistant Magistrate said that receiving these text messages would have been "distressing" for the woman involved.

“The only way you can get things back on track… is by maintaining your sobriety,” the Assistant Magistrate urged.

Considering his sentence, the Assistant Magistrate explained that he had taken into account a period of time that Czapkowski had spent in custody on a previous occasion when he had been refused bail and therefore decided just to impose the orders that Advocate Harrison had recommended.

Czapkowski was subsequently handed a 12-month probation order combined with a treatment order to combat his drinking. Before he was dismissed, Assistant Magistrate Harris reminded Czapkowski of the importance of respecting court orders, saying: “I’m not threatening you, I’m warning you.”