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A STRABANE man who denied stalking his ex-partner was today jailed for nine months.
Campbell Jackson (41), of Miltown Park, was sentenced at Strabane Magistrates Court on Thursday. He had previously pleaded not guilty to two counts of stalking and one count of improper use of communications but was convicted by the court last month.
The charges stemmed from a report by Jackson’s ex-partner in July of last year. She told police that she had sought refuge at a local Women’s Aid centre due to domestic abuse perpetrated by the defendant.
However, between August 10 and 17, he began his stalking campaign, making numerous calls and sending texts to the woman.
The victim told police that on August 13 she was sent a video by the defendant showing him zooming on her location at the Women’s Aid centre on a digital map. Two days later she received another video of Jackson filming the outside of the centre, zooming in on the building.
During the seven-day campaign, the defendant called and texted the woman using his mother’s phone, asking why she wasn’t speaking to him. He also attempted to call her 17 times on his own phone, using a withheld number, to which she answered only once.
Then on August 19 the victim was at the Diamond in Derry when the defendant drove past and attempted to wave her down. Following her report to police, Jackson was arrested that day and when interviewed he denied the allegations.
At contest he accepted the account given by his ex-partner but denied that his actions amounted to stalking, adding that the communication was consented to.
Probation services, who compiled a report ahead of sentencing, noted Jackson’s persistent claim of innocence and said that he lacked any ‘insight or accountability’.
Defence counsel, Dean Mooney, said he was ‘hamstrung’ in delivering any mitigation due to the defendant’s ongoing denial of the offences.
He noted that there was never any ‘physical confrontation’ between the parties, nor were there any ‘threatening messages’ from the defendant.
Mr Mooney added that Jackson had no previous convictions for violent or domestic offences.
District Judge Alana McSorley said that there was a ‘constant theme’ from Jackson of ‘victim blaming’ and ‘lacking accountability’.
She read from the victim impact statement, noting the ‘distress’ caused by the defendant and the ‘psychological impact’ on the victim which would ‘likely last for life’.
Judge McSorley said that an immediate custodial term was the only thing to solve Jackson’s ‘distorted reality’.
She handed the Strabane man a six-month custodial sentence for the stalking offences and three months for the improper use of communications offence, along with a two year restraining order in favour of the victim.
Following the sentencing, Jackson was granted bail of £500 to lodge an appeal against the sentence.
