Stalker harassed woman for four years via replica tattoo, threatening letters and unwanted gifts

A man who relentlessly stalked a woman over about four years, even getting several tattoos relating to her on his body, has had his sentencing delayed for him to get a mental health report.

John Owen Kirk answered “guilty, your honour” when a charge of stalking was read out to him in the ACT Magistrates Court on Wednesday (18 October).

He met his victim through a mutual acquaintance at a party in 2019 but soon started a campaign of harassment that lasted until 2023.

Over this period, court documents say he got four tattoos relating to her, including her initials and a replica of one of her own tattoos.

He eventually moved to a property where he lived only 900 metres away from her home. After he was arrested, police found messages on his mobile phone that showed he had been paying a man in Queensland to write threatening letters to her. He sent this man a total of $23,570.

Officers also searched his car and found a home-made calendar with pictures of the victim covering each month.

After their initial meeting, he had begun his campaign by messaging her over the social media app Snapchat to offer to pay for things, saying they were “presents”.

He told her he wanted to marry her, asked what her home address was and sent her messages that purported to be from his partner saying she was jealous of the way Kirk loved her.

The victim told him the messages made her uncomfortable and to stop contacting her, but he used fake social media accounts to try to get her address. She told him to leave her alone and blocked him on social media.

But Kirk started leaving gifts for her at the homes of her, her mother and a mutual friend, as well as at her workplace, including flowers, teddy bears, chocolates and football jerseys, as well as a framed collage of her and her dog along with notes declaring his love for her.

He sent her a huge number of letters, some of which were threatening and contained images of her or said she would go to prison where she would be assaulted.

He left unwanted gifts on her car while she was at her gym and started going to the same gym while wearing clothes with her initials on them. While there, he showed other gym members photos of her and claimed she was his girlfriend.

Kirk contacted his victim’s workplace and made a false complaint that she had verbally abused him, leading to an internal investigation. Then he spoke to her employer and accused her of following him.

He put a sticker with his victim’s initials onto his car and repeatedly posted about her on his social media accounts along with photos of her car taken from a short distance away and also uploaded a photo of himself with the words, “‘I’VE BEEN STALKING AGAIN”.

While the 30-year-old, who lives in Harden in NSW, had been scheduled to be sentenced on Wednesday, Chief Magistrate Lorraine Walker said she had received new information and adjourned to order a mental health report.

The chief magistrate said she was sure the victim was unhappy that the matter would not be resolved that day, adding she was not thrilled about it either, but she wanted a full understanding of Kirk’s motives and factors.

The matter was adjourned for sentencing in January 2024 and bail was continued.