South Australian man pleads guilty to horrific stalking case in Warrnambool court

Nicola Faiello, 45, of South Australia, repeatedly stalked and harassed his ex-partner and her sister after a break-up in August 2020.

He pleaded guilty to offences in Warrnambool Magistrates Court on August 17.

The court heard Faiello repeatedly messaged his ex-partner, as well as her new boyfriend and sister.

The offending started after the victim had fled to Warrnambool for safety.

The court heard the man logged into the victim's social media accounts and posted intimate photos and videos of her online.

He also uploaded revenge pornography to social media accounts he created using names similar to that of her business.

The court heard on another occasion he gained entry to her electricity account and organised it to be switched off, leaving her and her children in the dark and causing food in the freezer to go off.

Faiello also shared personal information online about the victim's sister and rang her numerous times while she was at work and played a recording of a dog barking.

Then in November last year, Faiello derailed the victim and her new partner's interstate holiday when he logged into their accounts and rescheduled their flights.

They received numerous notifications over the following days advising them of flight changes which they had not authorised.

Upon their return home, the couple found steroids stashed inside their car, which had been left in secure parking.

Inquiries showed their account information had been changed and Faiello had gained access.

The court heard the offender asked an associate that month to organise a sim card swap at a South Australian Optus dealership using the identity of the victim's new partner.

He then used that phone number to message the victim, purporting to be the other man.

The court was told Faiello also accessed the woman's VicRoads and Netflix accounts, and made multiple attempts to book beauty services through her business, using fake names in order to prohibit her from obtaining jobs.

In March this year Faiello was observed on CCTV dumping a cardboard box containing personal items on the door step of the victim's sister.

His DNA was located on the box and inquiries revealed he had hired a car from Mount Gambier, driving to Warrnambool and staying in a hotel under an alias.

Faiello was arrested at a Terang property in June.

In a statement read to the court, the victim said the impact of the crimes had been extensive and there was very little in her life that had not been negatively affected.

"It feels like he is a cancer that no matter what treatment I undergo he will continue to grow and never go away, no matter the lengths I go to, to remove him from my life," she said.

"It just keeps reappearing, insidious and malignant. It has affected every part of my lifestyle."

The victim said she suffered ongoing anxiety, panic attacks and felt isolated as she had difficulty trusting others. She also carries a responsibility to protect others from being targeted by the man's horrific crimes.

She said she had to pre-emptively divulge private and traumatic details of her life, which was "exhausting, invasive, cruel and unfair".

"I have only ever seen these sorts of stalking and aggressive behaviours in things such as crime documentaries. I fear that this man shows all the signs and just hasn't taken the last step to breaking me yet," she said.

Her sister said the past four years had been "nothing less than a living hell", leaving her extremely paranoid and stuck in "fight or flight mode".

She said she wondered if there would ever be an end to the "cruel" crimes that would affect their mental health for the rest of their lives.

Faiello, who remains in custody, will face a further plea hearing in September.

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