An Australian man has avoided jail after he faked his own kidnapping so he could spend New Year’s Eve with his sex worker mistress instead of his girlfriend.
Paul Iera, 36, of Wollongong, New South Wales, was ordered on Tuesday to do 350 hours of community service for masterminding the Dec. 31 scam, which saw police waste about 200 hours — the equivalent of more than $25,000 in taxpayer money, or about -about $16,040 US, according to 9 News.
Iera left her home shortly before 11:45 p.m., telling her unnamed partner that she was going out to meet “her finance guy,” an Australian court heard.
But just hours later, prosecutors said, Iera’s partner received a text message from his mistress claiming he had been kidnapped.
The mistress told him, “Thank you for sending me Paul, now the refund is ab****, goodbye.
“But I will fare [sic]OK, we’ll keep him with us until the morning when [sic] he gave us his bike,” the text message read. “We call it square, nobody touches it, I’ll give you my word, OK hun.”
An Australian man was ordered Tuesday to do 350 hours of community service for faking his own kidnapping, according to reports. 9news.com.au
Fearing for his safety, Iera’s girlfriend called the local police, who began examining surveillance footage and talking to witnesses, according to the Daily Mail.
Meanwhile, Iera decides to call his father the next day, telling him he was kidnapped the night before but returned to Wollongong.
He said his captors dropped him back to his car nearby, the Daily Mail reported.
Paul Iera, 36, was ordered Tuesday to do 350 hours of community service for making excuses to spend New Year’s Eve with his mistress. Paul Iera/Facebook
Upon hearing the news, police conducted what they called a “high-risk” vehicle stop on Iera’s van, believing he was being held inside, according to the Mail.
But they only found it inside.
Iera claimed to police he was caught by an “unknown Middle Eastern man” hired by his mistress to ask him to turn over his bike.
The situation led Iera’s girlfriend to believe she was being held hostage over a $7,000 dirt bike, prosecutors said. Paul Iera/Facebook
The story came to light less than two weeks later when police found security footage showing she had been with the sex worker that night.
Another footage shows Iera and her lover getting into her vehicle just minutes after she called her father. The woman then returned home alone a few minutes later.
In court on Tuesday, Magistrate Michael Ong reprimanded Iera’s “disgusting behaviour” saying his actions were “motivated by the most unattractive reason he has ever come across,” according to 9 News.
Another footage shows Iera and her lover getting into her vehicle just minutes after she called her father. The woman then returned home alone a few minutes later.9news.com.au
“You choose to send disturbing and frightening messages to your partner so you can get extra time with another partner,” he told Iera. “You’d think that would be the best way to do it – any reasonable person would go public, and that’s what happened.”
“You are at a point where you have to make a choice. You will either take a step back, look at yourself and your situation and move towards improving yourself, or alternatively you will move into a situation where incarceration will be a very realistic option.
In addition to being sentenced to 350 hours of community service, he was ordered to pay $16,000 (or about $10,266 US) to the New South Wales police.
Police said they spent about 200 hours on the situation, which cost more than $16,040, according to 9 News. 9news.com.au“Since the offense was committed, Mr Iera has made remarkable progress in his recovery, and today’s verdict reflects [the] The court’s attempt to promote the ongoing rehabilitation,†said Iera’s lawyer, Abbas Soukie. Paul Iera/Facebook
In a statement following the sentence, Iera’s lawyer said he was “pleased to avoid a [jail] today’s verse.
“Since committing the offence, Mr Iera has made remarkable progress in his recovery, and today’s verdict reflects that [the] The court’s attempt to promote that ongoing recovery,” said Abbas Soukie.
“Mr. Iera continues to enjoy the support of his family and partner, and wants to continue living as a productive member of society,” he added.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
