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A Papamoa man subject to a protection order used a fake identity on an internet dating site to hook up with his former partner so he could "find out how his children were".
Aluminium joiner Shane Gadsby, 30, pleaded guilty to breaching a protection order when he appeared in Tauranga District Court on Thursday and was convicted and discharged. But he must pay $400 to his victim for emotional harm.
She had realised who he was after five days of chatting and contacted police.
The court heard Gadsby had been desperate to find out how his two children were.
Judge Louis Bidois told Gadsby: "Your motives might have been good ones but this was definitely the wrong way of going about it."
- BAY OF PLENTY TIMES