SOUTH TYNESIDE MAN CONVICTED AFTER PESTERING HIS EX
A South Tyneside finance director with an extensive and troubling history of stalking subjected his ex-girlfriend to repeated phone calls shortly after their relationship ended, the court was told.Keith Martin, 47, called her 11 times shortly after midnight on Saturday, November 15, from an unknown number, but she recognized his voice during two of the calls.
According to prosecutor Emily Hunt, Martin made a further 60 calls later that same day.
It was also revealed that he has four previous convictions related to stalking or harassment of women, including a jail sentence handed down in 2020.
One of his prior convictions involved him entering a former partner’s home while armed with an axe.
Martin, who is a father, pleaded guilty to a charge of stalking that involved causing fear of violence through phone calls, texts, emails, and voicemails between September 28 and November 15, in the areas of Blyth, Northumberland, and Jarrow.
District Judge Zoe Passfield ordered a pre-sentence report and remanded him into custody, with a court date scheduled at Sunderland Magistrates’ Court for Monday, December 8.