Mechanic sentenced for “menacing” harassment

Friday 02 August 2019

A 42-year-old mechanic has been handed a community service order after he repeatedly harassed a woman, sending her a Valentine’s Day card, calling her incessantly and texting her “I see you”.

Martyn Steven Jeanne was this week urged by the Magistrate's Court to take courses with the Probation Service after he spent months harassing a woman, even after she blocked him on social media and a Police Officer warned him to leave her alone.

The harassment was described as “menacing” by Magistrate Bridget Shaw, who presided over the proceedings.

Legal Adviser Simon Crowder told the Court that the victim had blocked Jeanne's number and his accounts on various social media and messaging platforms, but that the defendant continued to try and contact her by sending messages to her iPad and calling her from withheld numbers.

Pictured: Jeanne appeared in Court to be sentenced for harassment.

“She didn’t want to see him and she told him that on many occasions,” Mr Crowder explained, but Jeanne “still persisted.”

One message from Jeanne stated that he was at her house and another read: “I see you.”

After a lengthy voicemail left by the defendant on her home phone and some 20 missed calls from an unknown number, the woman went to the Police, prompting an officer to go to Jeanne’s address, warning him to leave the woman alone.

She was advised by the Police to send him a “final message” telling him not to contact her anymore, but these measures failed to prevent Jeanne’s contact.

Pictured: A Police Officer warned the 42-year-old not to contact the woman.

On 14 February, she received a Valentine’s Day card through the post. It was typed rather than handwritten, but the Court heard that the recipient could tell “based on the spelling that it was [from] the defendant.”

The woman described the harassment as “unnerving and draining”, adding that the encounters had led her to suffer "increased anxiety levels and stress” as well as making her feel “much more on edge.” 

Quoting from a statement from the victim describing the impact the offending has had on her, Mr Crowder said that she had become “less confident, less trusting, more defensive and more vulnerable” due to the episode of harassment.

The Court was also told that this is the second time Jeanne has been brought to Court due to harassing an ex-partner in this manner. 

Pictured: The case was heard in the Magistrate's Court.

Advocate George Pearce, representing Jeanne, argued that the offending didn't pass the "threshold" for jail-time, emphasising that all of his client’s behaviour was “non-violent” and took place over a “limited” timeframe.

The defence Advocate apologised on behalf of his client, who wanted to “extend his apologies both to [the woman] and to the Court.” 

“It was certainly not his intention to cause [her] any harm,” Advocate Pearce said.

Handing down her judgment, Magistrate Shaw told Jeanne that his behaviour had made the woman feel “very frightened” and that it has had a “considerable impact on her life.”

She continued: “I am concerned about your behaviour generally and your lack of insight as to the harm you can cause.”

The Magistrate subsequently imposed a 50-hour community service order and a six-month Probation order for the offence. A restraining order was also put in place to prevent Jeanne from contacting the woman for a period of five years.