On the police facts sheet and the court attendance notice that you may have received you will have a reference to the law part and a short description of offence. These references help the court and the legal profession to identify the exact offence you have been charged with. The law part and short description for this offence are set out in the table below:

The maximum penalty for the charge of intimidation and stalking (Section 13 of the Crimes [Domestic and Personal Violence] Act) is a fine of $5,500and/or 5 years imprisonment.

In NSW, a court can impose any of the following penalties for an intimidation and stalking charge.

• Section 10: Indecent Assault proven but dismissed
• Fine
• Good behaviour bond
• Community service order (CSO)
• Suspended sentence
• Intensive correction order (previously periodic detention)
• Home detention
• Prison sentence

You’ll find a brief description of each of these penalties at the bottom of this page.

Likely Penalty

Local Court

Based on our experience and statistics from the Judicial Commission of New South Wales we believe that the penalty in a case that is within the mid range of seriousness for the offence of intimidation and stalking, if heard in the Local Court, is likely to be a good behaviour bond under section 9 of the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act for a period of 12 months.

District Court

If the matter is finalised in the District Court the likely penalty is a suspended sentence with supervision under section 12 of the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act.

To convict you of an intimidation and stalking charge, the police must prove each of the following matters beyond a reasonable doubt:

For stalking, the police need to show:

1. That you engaged in one of the following
   1. following of a person, or
   2. watching or frequenting of the vicinity of, or an approach to
      1. a person’s place of residence
      2. a person’s place of business
      3. a person’s place of work
      4. any place that a person frequents for the purposes of any social or leisure activity
2. with intent to cause to cause physical or mental harm

For intimidation, the police need to show:

1. That you engaged in one of the following:
   1. conduct amounting to
      1. harassment or
      2. molestation
   2. the making of repeated telephone calls
   3. any conduct that causes a reasonable apprehension of injury to
      1. a person or
      2. a person with whom he or she has a domestic relationship
   4. any conduct that causes a reasonable apprehension of violence or damage to any person or property
2. with intent to cause to cause physical or mental harm

They will also need to prove that you were the person who committed the intimidation and stalking offence. The prosecution is not required to prove that the person alleged to have been stalked or intimidated actually feared physical or mental harm.

Possible defences to an intimidation and stalking charge include but are not limited to:

• Duress
• Necessity
• Self Defence

The Local Court has jurisdiction to make orders and determine applications for this matter, except where the defendant is under 18 years of age at the time the application is made. The District Court has jurisdiction where an application by or on behalf of the person for whose protection an apprehended violence order (AVO) is sought has been dismissed by the Local Court or the Children’s Court.