A single mum whose life became a living nightmare when her ex-boyfriend bombarded her with thousands of threatening text messages and relentlessly stalked her for months on end has opened about the harrowing ordeal.
Mum-of-three Tash Kramer thought she’d found the love of her life after she struck up a relationship with Gavin Porter while living in Benalla in Victoria’s north-east in March last year.
She initially wasn’t looking for a relationship with the Irishman but the pair ‘hit it off’, before things took an ugly turn.
Ms Kramer claims that just three months into the romance, Porter became jealous and possessive and began to abuse and threaten her.
She claimed he would also drive past her house and call endlessly for hours.
‘He would get drunk and just start calling me names,’ Ms Kramer told A Current Affair.
‘Calling me fat, calling me ugly, telling me to kill myself and then have no recollection the next day
‘He would beg for forgiveness and then it was just a cycle’
Fearing for her life and her children’s safety, Ms Kramer claimed she would comply with Porter’s alleged demands to meet him at certain places to keep the peace.
Seven months after the couple (pictured) began their relationship, police took out an interim family violence intervention order against Porter (pictured right)
‘I tried many times to end the relationship, but he wouldn’t have it, I was a possession to him,’ she said.
Porter also sent Ms Kramer threatening text messages during their relationship.
‘I’m going to make your life hell,’ one message read.
Porter threatened to cut her throat in another.
There were also threatening voicemails.
‘Natasha, I’m giving you two minutes to answer your phone or I sweat to God….’ he says on one message.
He says in another: ‘You’re making me very angry and I don’t want to to do but I’m f****** on the verge of doing something.’
Ms Kramer claims their relationship soon became violent and recalled one particular incident where she blamed herself.
‘He [allegedly] punched me in the hip and then choked me on the ground,’ Ms Kramer said.
Police eventually arrested Porter following the alleged threats and uncovered 3,000 text messages.
Seven months into the relationship, police took out an interim family violence intervention order against Porter.
Ms Kramer (pictured) claims that just three months into the relationship, Porter became jealous and possessive before he allegedly began to abuse and threaten her
Ms Kramer claims that Porter was angry about the court imposed order and hassled her to revoke it, amid fears he would lose his visa and be deported.
‘The magistrate asked me whether I was happy for the order to stay for a year, I agreed,’ Ms Kramer said.
‘Within a minute of me agreeing to the order, my phone started ringing and Gavin was making threats to come to my work.’
At breaking point, the young mum considered ending her life and drove to nearby train tracks, where police spent an hour looking for her they found her hiding in the bushes.
It was a turning point for Ms Kramer who opened up about the abuse to police.
But the nightmare wasn’t over yet.
Porter came to her home one night and allegedly tapped on the window while she was sleeping.
A terrified Ms Kramer grabbed a kitchen knife, locked her children inside the house and ran outside onto the road in a desperate bid to keep Porter away from her kids.
By the time police had arrived, Porter had allegedly fled the scene and spent several weeks on the run.
The torment finally ended last November when police caught up with Porter shortly after he arrived in Melbourne on a flight from WA.
He was arrested at a hotel 40 minutes later.
Gavin Porter (pictured) was sentenced to two years’ jail and he is set to be deported back to Ireland when his sentence ends in late 2025
The magistrate described the matter as the worst family violence cases he had heard.
Porter was sentenced to two years’ jail and is expected to be deported back to Ireland at the end of 2025 after serving his sentence.
Ms Kramer has since moved towns and the job she loved for a fresh start and to get her life back.
She urged others facing a similar situation to not be afraid to ask for help.
‘I resisted for such a long time and made things much harder for myself, they’re there to help,’ Ms Kramer said.
If you or someone who know needs support, contact 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732) or Lifeline on 13 11 14.
