Ryan Tucker: Former partner of domestic violence offender turned away from police after alleged breach of bail

A domestic violence survivor was turned away from a police station while trying to report her former partner for allegedly breaching a violence restraining order less than 24 hours after he was spared jail for attacking her. The shocking revelation prompted an apology from Police Commissioner Col Blanch and a desperate hunt for the serial domestic violence offender Ryan Michael Tucker, who was brought police custody late on Monday night. Speaking bravely to 7NEWS, the victim, who does not want to be named, says she was left exhausted and humiliated when police refused to take her report at Perth Police Station on Sunday night. “It’s been four years of it. So I’m f...ing tired,” she said. “It’s annoying, and frustrating. It felt like I was the smallest person on Earth.” Tucker, a self-declared domestic violence thug, was allowed to walk free by a Perth magistrate for a second time on Friday. This time, the 35-year-old was convicted on his plea of guilty of elbowing his victim in the eye as she tried to escape to her mother’s house, while she loaded her belongings into an Uber. He also pleaded guilty to a revenge porn charge after posting intimate images of the woman online without her consent. Despite the magistrate considering his conduct serious enough to label him a serial domestic violence offender, he was only handed a nine-month suspended prison sentence and a $3000 fine. The very next day, the woman says Tucker began stalking her on social media, which could possibly constitute a breach of a violence restraining order. “He’s surrounding me without physically surrounding me,” she said. “It feels like you’re trapped in a fishbowl and you can’t do anything about it. “I just stay up listening to every noise outside my window and I get really paranoid and scared that he’s going to rock up.” Mr Blanch admitted the woman should not have been turned away by police. “I thank Channel 7 news for bringing it to my attention,” he said on Monday. “I’ve had the family violence team reach out to that victim and we have now taken a report. “It is a crime, we will investigate that crime and hopefully have a very rapid result.” Tucker first came to the attention of police when he punched the same woman, his then-girlfriend, in the face in the middle of the Perth Cultural Centre in 2023. The shockingly violent incident was caught on CCTV and sparked public outrage when Tucker walked away with just a $1500 fine. Magistrate Robert Young was accused of victim-shaming the young woman during sentencing. Mr Young said he refused to accept her evidence because he found her to be “defensive and disrespectful” during cross-examination. Magistrate Young failed to consider the reason for her behaviour was because she was being cross-examined, not by a defence lawyer, but by her abuser, Tucker, who elected to represent himself. A special 7NEWS investigation went on to reveal the victim had reported many previous incidents to police but had not been taken seriously. Police re-examined the evidence following that media attention and laid fresh assault and revenge porn charges, to which Tucker pleaded guilty. The victim-survivor says that seeing him walk away without a prison sentence for a second time was devastating. “It was just so scary,” she said. “It felt like no one cared what had happened and what was going to happen to me. “In terms of impact I think that court case is almost on par with the abuse, because it just doubled down on everything and every fear I had.” The Police Commissioner did not disagree when asked whether the case highlighted a disconnect between the justice system and the police force regarding the handling of a domestic violence offender. “My message about serial family violence offenders or those who commit violence particularly against women is very clear,” he said. “They shouldn’t be walking the streets, they should be in prison.” The victim-survivor says despite being continually dismissed by authorities she was determined to speak out to raise awareness. “I know what’s right and wrong and I know what happened to me,” she said. “I don’t care who you are and what piece of paper you have that says you’re above me or that you know more than me. “I don’t need anyone’s validation for it, I don’t need a judge or a cop to tell me that what happened to me was wrong. “I know it was wrong. “And I know there’s a lot of women out there that are too scared to use their voices, so I have to use mine.” 1800RESPECT