Stalker sent ex-partner 352 messages over space of two days

A 26-YEAR-OLD man has been handed an 18-month probation order after stalking his ex-partner.

Gareth Sharkey, whose address cannot be revealed due to a reporting restriction, was sentenced to probation.

Strabane Magistrates Court heard that police received a report from Sharkey’s ex-partner, who claimed that she had been receiving unwanted messages from him.

Between February 10 and 12, 2024, Sharkey had sent 352 messages and over an hour of voice notes to the victim.

The victim then said that on the night of February 10, Sharkey attended the victim’s workplace and parked his car in a dimly lit area.

When the woman finished work and returned to her car, Sharkey was seen on CCTV walking out ‘from the darkness’ with possessions owned by the victim.

He then shoved her belongings through her car door, causing pain to the woman’s chest.

On February 20, the ex-partner was at the Asda in Strabane and noticed Sharkey following her to the nearby McDonalds.

Sharkey then approached a co-worker of the victim and asked if she had seen her.

On another occasion friends of the victim said they had seen Sharkey driving around Castlederg attempting to follow his ex-partner.

The 26-year-old was later interviewed and denied the offences. However, he later pleaded guilty to stalking and assault in court

A Victim Impact Statement was read to the court, which detailed the ‘distress’ inflicted on the woman, who said she ‘didn’t feel safe in her own home’.

The victim was left so anxious of being followed she had to buy a new car so he wouldn’t follow her.

Defence counsel Stephen McNicholl highlighted the pre-sentence report and Sharkey’s lack of record.

Mr McNicholl said that Sharkey accepted that his conduct would have been distressing and has ‘learned lessons’ from his behaviour.

He added that the 26-year-old ‘dealt poorly’ with the breakup and had been dealing also with his ‘own issues’.

District Judge Oonagh Mullan said these were ‘dramatic circumstances’, but acknowledged the ‘significant impact’ of ‘distress and concern’ caused to the victim.

She praised the woman, who sat in the public gallery, for her strength to come to court and hoped that she could ‘continue with her life’.

Judge Mullan sentenced Sharkey to 18 months of probation, with a restraining order in favour of the victim for a period of one year.

As part of the restraining order, Sharkey is prohibited from being on the road where the victim lives, is banned from being within 500 meters of her place of work and was ordered to have no contact with the victim or her family.