An erotomaniac stalker who used "increasingly covert" tactics to harass his victims once thought legal proceedings were "romantic and secret games", according to a report tendered in court.
"Does he still believe that?" a visibly shocked Justice Chrissa Loukas-Karlsson asked after reading the document on Friday.
She then directly questioned the criminal, Steven Black, who assured her he now knew this was not the case.
Black, 31, was fronting the ACT Supreme Court for a sentence hearing, having pleaded guilty in March to three counts of using a carriage service to menace, harass or offend.
The "obsessive" ex-public servant admitted he had last year badgered a former lawyer with 117 phone calls, as well as "cryptic" posts on social media.
Black, who has a delusional disorder that makes him believe people are in love with him, also harassed one of the woman's friends after viewing her Facebook profile and developing "a romantic interest".
These proceedings mark the third time Black, who has previously been convicted of stalking, has been prosecuted over crimes committed against the same victims.
Justice Loukas-Karlsson said on Friday that Black's persistent behaviour would have been "a terrible experience for both women".
"You just have to do the right thing from now on," she warned him.
Black's barrister, Frances Lalic, agreed his offending "has to stop".
She said the latest suite of crimes were committed after Black was, at his request, taken off anti-psychotic depot injections and prescribed less effective oral medication.
Ms Lalic said the 31-year-old forgot to take some doses, leading him to become gradually more and more mentally unwell.
She said he had been "manic" and was barely sleeping prior to his latest arrest.
"He was also having delusions around the sun, and the moon and the stars at night," Ms Lalic told the court.
Barrister Beth Morrisroe, for the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions, said in brief comments that Black "chose not to comply with the oral medication regime".
But Ms Lalic argued Black's moral culpability for the latest offending was reduced by the fact his treating doctors had agreed to the change in medication, saying Black could not be expected to make better decisions than the professionals.
She told the court Black had been on "a 24-hour curfew" while on bail in recent months.
He was now "doing well", Ms Lalic said, after being placed back on depot injections and also prescribed "the most effective anti-psychotic medication available on the market".
She also said Black had taken advantage of his current good health to put in place various "safety nets" to prevent himself reoffending.
These included applying to the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal for a guardian, who would report any future non-compliance with his medication regimes.
Justice Loukas-Karlsson said this seemed like "a very good idea".
She adjourned the sentence proceedings until August 31, by which time the guardianship application will likely have been determined.
Ms Morrisroe will make her submissions on that date.
