Suspended jail sentence for Facebook stalker

A man who sent a woman 80 Facebook messages over 14 days, before contacting her friends and family to try and find out where she lived has been handed a suspended sentence.

Jamie Norman, of Haverfordwest, pleaded guilty to stalking a woman after a four-week long campaign of messaging her, her former partner, and friends.

The 39-year-old’s actions culminated in him knocking every door on an estate in a physical search for the victim, after he made his own report to police that her friends were ‘keeping her away’ from him.

The suspect was arrested on May 28 due to the “severity and concerning nature” of his offending.

Unusual

Dyfed-Powys Police officer DC Gmerek said: “This was quite an unusual investigation as the offender himself contacted police when he claimed the victim’s friends were preventing her from being in contact with him.”

“This was followed by a second call later the same day, in which he said he had further information about the victim’s address, and that he was going to knock doors in the area until he found her.

“This was clearly concerning behaviour, however at that point we were not aware of the extent of his behaviour towards the victim.”

Force control room call handlers received a report of a man calling at houses in an estate in Haverfordwest during the early hours of May 28, just hours after the suspect had himself contacted police.

CCTV footage showed it was Norman.

As enquiries continued, it was established that along with sending 80 messages to the victim – the majority of which were sent over one day – he had contacted her friends to ask if he should ‘pursue’ her, and even told her mother he wanted to marry her.

Obsession

“There was a large amount of evidence to consider, given the number of messages sent both to the victim and others,” DC Gmerek said.

“The evidence showed a high degree of obsession, including sexual elements and implicit threat, as well as the four behaviours of stalking: Fixated, obsessed, unwanted and repeated.

“A charge for stalking involving serious alarm or distress was authorised.”

Norman admitted the offence and appeared in court, where he was sentenced to six months in prison, suspended for 18 months.

He must carry out 250 hours of unpaid work, and complete a rehabilitation activity requirement.

DC Gmerek added: “Stalking and harassment can cause serious distress to victims, leaving them looking over their shoulder and questioning their safety.

“Norman’s victim expressed feelings of anxiety and fear, and felt compelled to change parts of her lifestyle as a result of his behaviour.

“It is a very brave step to take in reporting stalking behaviour to police, and I would like to commend the victim in this case for reaching out for support.”

Visit here if you need support for stalking or harassment.