STALKER WHO LEFT FLOWERS AT VICTIM'S WORK
Martin Evans, who had been rejected by his former partner, inundated her with phone calls, left a bouquet of flowers outside her hair salon, and was captured on video driving past her rural workplace.The woman was not in a relationship with Evans at the time he proposed marriage on August 10.
She had moved out of his residence six months before feeling ‘heartbroken’ after discovering he was communicating via text with an ex-partner, although their relationship lingered until she decided she no longer trusted him.
Prosecutor Jonathan Stone told Oxford Crown Court that during approximately one week in August, Evans attempted to contact the woman multiple times and added her friends on Instagram.
He also drove past her salon in his Mercedes.
Her employer filmed the car, and later received a message from Evans saying: “I’m going to destroy your business.” On August 17, a courier delivered flowers, which she refused.
The next morning, she found them left in her usual parking spot.
Then, on August 20, Evans visited her parents’ home, banging on doors and windows.
He was arrested and remained silent when questioned by police.
Evans, of Gravel Hill, Henley, has a history of 14 convictions, including over a dozen for breaching restraining orders.
Judge Michael Gledhill KC commented that if Evans had been 16, his conduct would have prompted his parents to tell him to stop being pathetic, calling his behaviour during those days “completely intolerable.” During mitigation, lawyer John Briant requested the judge suspend any prison sentence, noting Evans had already served about five months on remand.
He explained this would enable Evans to work with probation to address his patterns of behaviour.
Evans has his own flat and is employed at a firm providing IT software to the care industry.
The judge agreed to suspend the two-year prison sentence, observing Evans had been out of trouble for five years and was employed.
Though cautious, the court believed the matter could be handled within the probation system.
The judge acknowledged the sentence might seem lenient, but ordered Evans to undertake a relationship-building course, complete 11 days of rehabilitation activities, and pay £475 in prosecution costs.
A restraining order was issued, banning him from contacting his victim for ten years.
