A vicious stalker who was expelled from Lord Howe Island after terrorizing his girlfriend now lives in a huge four-bedroom house with stunning ocean views on the mainland.
Jai Shick, 44, faced Port Macquarie Local Court earlier this month and was convicted of choking, assaulting, stalking and intimidating his partner.
Magistrate Georgina Darcy ordered Shick to serve his two-year Community Correction Order near Port Macquarie on the NSW coast instead of his home on Lord Howe Island, saying that would be too “permissive”.
Shick was then released on bail to live with a friend in Dunbogan, 35km south of Port Macquarie.
He now lives in a modern four-bedroom house with beautiful water views.
Jai Shick was convicted of domestic violence, but has appealed his sentence
The four-bedroom house offers beautiful views of the water
Shick, a native of Lord Howe Island, worked as a local field officer, according to his LinkedIn profile.
It was initially proposed that he live under virtual house arrest at his mother’s home on the island, but this was rejected by Mrs Darcy.
The court was told that between the evening of April 15, 2022, and the early hours of the following day, Shick tracked down his now former partner, convinced she was cheating on him.
He pulled her hair and shouted, “Is that what you make the other boys do, do you like it?”
He then grabbed the woman’s phone to check her messages and calls and pushed her as she stood tangled in her sleeping bag.
The woman got up and ran, but he attacked her, putting his hand around her throat and using his forearm to exert more force.
“I’m going to fucking kill you, c**t,” Shick said, according to court documents.
The four-bedroom house outside Port Macquarie
Lord Howe Island is known for its beauty
The woman eventually went home with Shick the night she was strangled, fearing he would continue to hurt her if she didn’t go with him, police said.
She confided in three friends about the domestic violence incident and went to the doctor, who took pictures of the bruises and noticed that her voice was hoarse.
The woman did not go to the only police officer on the island at the time of the violent attack because she “didn’t feel comfortable with him at the time,” according to court documents.
The victim reported the offense a year later, in October 2023, and Shick was arrested on December 12.
Shick eventually pleaded guilty and avoided a costly trial, during which witnesses would have been flown to Port Macquarie from Lord Howe Island, about 600 kilometers off the NSW coast.
Shick’s victim bravely told the court before the incident that she was a free-spirited, hard-working woman.
Dunbogan is a coastal town outside Port Macquarie
“The image of his face in front of me and his hands around my neck – I relive the worst night of my life over and over again,” she said.
“I never knew how deep the consequences would be, for the rest of my life,” she said.
The court heard the woman sought mental health care, at great expense, to help her cope with the trauma.
“Every day is a struggle to keep my composure.”
Ms Darcy praised the woman for courageously confronting her abuser in court.
She said she saw men appear in court ‘time and time again’ for offenses motivated by jealousy.
“You continued to believe that the victim was unfaithful – there is no evidence before the court that this was the case – but that does not matter,” Ms Darcy said.
‘People have a choice about what they do with their own lives.’
Schick’s lawyer thought the sentence was too harsh and has filed an appeal.