Man allegedly records hundreds of hours of conversations on planted phone

The 40-year-old man, who cannot be named because that could identify the victim, appeared in Warrnambool Magistrates Court via video-link from prison on May 17, 2024.

He faces charges of stalking, keeping someone under surveillance and breaching a family violence intervention order.

The court heard a phone was located at the woman's home hidden within an air conditioner and later a speaker in early 2023.

Police allege the man had set up the phone to automatically answer a phone call from his own device, allowing him to listen in to conversations without the victim's knowledge.

He allegedly made a high volume of calls to the phone between January 25 and February 23, 2023, and knew information about the victim he could only have known through the listening to the recorded private conversations.

Barrister Alexis Buckley, representing the man, said while the alleged victim said the phone was controlled by her client, it was registered to an associate of the complainant's new boyfriend.

She said that man was now in custody charged with serious family violence offences against her client.

The court heard there were 240 hours of recordings but police were unable to access them and the phone had been sent to the Victoria Police E-Crime unit for analysis.

A prosecutor said it was unknown how long that analysis would take.

But she said the prosecution had a long list of phone records that outlined the duration of the calls.

"I'm not going to say (the case) is without its problems in its current form however I believe when we get down to it, we will be able to prove it was him who planted the phone," she said.

She said the alleged victim was very familiar with the accused man's voice and there was evidence of him knowing about the new boyfriend's alleged family violence, which he only could have known if he'd listened to the recordings.

The court heard a plea deal had been made to the defence which would be considered.

The man will face court again on June 12.

The court heard he was also accused of being at the alleged victim's home during February 2023, which breached the intervention order.

An anonymous caller tipped off police, who attended but the accused man fled the house, jumping over fences in order to avoid being arrested.

The court heard he allegedly damaged furniture of a neighbouring property as he fled the scene.

The man later returned to the woman's home and during an alleged verbal altercation obtained a large kitchen knife.

The accused man remains in custody.