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Police have applied for an apprehended violence order (AVO) against a fan of Delta Goodrem for the protection of her mother.

James Joseph Lafferty has been ordered not to approach Lea Goodrem or contact her in any way unless it is through a lawyer,

The 50-year-old has previously been convicted of stalking the Australian singer as recently as July last year.

AVO Conditions

Amongst the AVO conditions, Lafferty must not assault, threaten, stalk, harass or intimidate the elder Goodrem or anyone she has a domestic relationship with.

He also cannot intentionally or recklessly destroy or damage any property belonging to Lea Goodrem, or harm any animal in her possession.

Further, he must not try to ‘find’ Lea ‘except as ordered by the court’.

Delta Goodrem Stalker

James Lafferty was convicted for a second time for stalking Delta Goodrem in July 2021. He also pleaded guilty to two counts of contravene AVO.

The AVO prohibited him from being within 50 metres of the singer’s flat.

However, in April last year he was spotted driving a white Holden Commodore near her Sydney CBD apartment. Police officers were unable to locate Lafferty’s vehicle at the time.

Later that year, in May, Lafferty was again spotted by police near Ms Goodrem’s apartment. They stopped and questioned him.

He claimed he was returning from his brother’s home in Coogee and was on his way to Richmond in Sydney’s north-west. Police arrested him there.

He was convicted at Downing Centre Local Court and sentenced to a 15-month community correction order.

Lafferty was first charged with stalking Delta Goodrem in 2020. This was based on him sending the former Voice Australia judge 300 ‘love poems’.

He also attended her CBD apartment building on Valentine’s Day and tried to leave a gift with the concierge. He was told she didn’t live there but he returned four times that day and was asked to leave.

The next day she saw him sitting in a nearby park playing a guitar.

When she went to the concierge desk to pick up a dress, he walked past calling out her name and she fled.

When she checked her Instagram account, it had been bombarded with messages.

Lafferty had sent her messages including ‘I’m here’, ‘please come down and meet me’, ‘I honestly love you Delta my soulmate forever’, ‘I’m at concierge’ and ‘James loves you Delta’.

During his arrest, Lafferty smashed his phone in anger and asked, “What am I guilty of? Bringing her a rose and chocolates.”

At that time, he pleaded guilty to three stalking charges, using a carriage service to menace, harass or offend; and failing to comply with a move on direction.

Lafferty was convicted on all three charges and sentenced to an 18-month community correction order and a $600 fine.

Fighting an AVO

An AVO is an apprehended violence order. It is a Court order imposed on a person for the protection of another person (or persons).

There have been a number of recent examples of AVOs being withdrawn and/or dismissed after retaining experienced AVO lawyers. You can view some of those cases by clicking here.

We have offices throughout the Sydney metropolitan area where you can speak to Sydney, Liverpool and Parramatta Criminal Lawyers. We can arrange a conference for you with a Law Society Accredited Specialist in AVOs. Call Astor Legal on (02) 7804 2823. Or, you can email info@astorlegal.com.au.

There are some mandatory conditions that come with an AVO, and then there are other optional conditions. These conditions restrict the behaviour of the person on whom the AVO is imposed.

As an AVO is not a criminal conviction, it will not appear on any Police check. However, an AVO may place restrictions on what you can and cannot do. Some common examples of conditions are:

• You cannot approach or contact a particular person or persons;
• You cannot enter a particular premises;
• You cannot go within a certain distance of a particular location;
• You cannot be in the company of a particular person within 12 hours of consuming alcohol.

Because of this, people commonly ask how to get an AVO dismissed. To answer this question, AVO lawyers refer to Section 16 of the Act which sets out the factors that must be proved on the balance of probabilities for an AVO to be made:

1. The alleged victim has reasonable grounds to fear a personal violence offence from you; and

2. The alleged victim, fears a personal violence offence from you unless:

a) The alleged victim is under 16 years of age

b) The alleged victim has a mental impairment

c) the alleged victim has, in the past, been subject to a personal violence offence from you and the court believes there is a reasonable likelihood of it occurring again.

3. It is appropriate to make an AVO in the terms sought.

If any of these matters cannot be proved, then the AVO will not be made.