In a groundbreaking demonstration of technology's potential to enhance domestic abuse, a Sydney woman's Tesla was remotely transformed into a weapon of harassment by her ex-partner, Enrico Pucci. Stacey*, who had endured four years of abuse, found that her car, which she had registered in Pucci's name so he could 'assist' her with its tech, was suddenly under his complete control via the Tesla app.

Beginning in November 2025, Pucci, 50, used the app to add a 'parental control' profile that allowed him to remotely adjust the car's temperature to extreme levels, limit its speed, and even activate 'Valet Mode,' reducing it to a crawl of 40km/h - creating what police documents described as 'significant safety issues' on the road. Stacey, who had no access to the controls, was effectively locked out of her own vehicle, a situation that caused 'significant stress, mental harm and fears for her physical safety.'

This high-tech torment was part of a broader pattern of coercive control that included physical assaults, strangulation, and threats, as detailed in court documents. In one incident in March 2020, Pucci threatened Stacey that she would never see her son again if she left him, forcibly taking her phone and driving off with the child. In 2021, he strangled her until she blacked out, believing she was going to die.

Last Wednesday, Pucci was convicted of 30 domestic violence charges, including using the Tesla app to harass Stacey. Judge Peter Feather sentenced him to two years and three months in Parramatta local court, with a non-parole period of 15 months, calling the conduct 'coercive and controlling in nature, reflecting a pattern of behaviour designed to entrench power and compliance.'

Pucci, who is appealing the sentence, has a history of questionable business practices. In 2017, the federal court found his cleaning company, Grouped Property Services Pty Ltd, treated vulnerable foreign workers as 'slaves,' leading to a fine of nearly $450,000. In 2022, ASIC disqualified him from managing corporations for five years due to his involvement in three company failures owing almost $10m to creditors.

Stacey's ordeal highlights a chilling new frontier in domestic abuse, where the very technology meant to make life easier becomes a tool for control. As Pucci shouted at her, 'I am in your car. I am in your maps.' And indeed, he was. *Name changed for privacy.