A man has been banned from going near a school after stalking his ex-girlfriend at the gates.
Nathan Hegerty, 31, repeatedly turned up in locations where the woman was between 11 May and 21 October last year – including whilst she was on the school run.
The defendant, of Carp Road, Calne, pleaded guilty to stalking her at Swindon Magistrates’ Court at a previous hearing and returned for sentencing on Tuesday (1 February).
Kate Prince, prosecuting, told the court that the victim expressed her wish to be left alone after the pair’s short four-month relationship ended.
But over the next six months, Hegerty stalked his ex-girlfriend. He turned up at her home address and shouted through the letterbox and created a fake Facebook account to contact her.
On numerous occasions, he turned up at her child’s primary school in order to accost her. On another, he approached her outside of a service user’s address whilst she was carrying out work as a carer.
He also took flowers to her home and threatened to commit suicide if she did not engage with him.
In a victim personal statement, the woman said she felt “continually anxious”.
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She added that she was constantly “scared about what he might do or say” and was “scared there will never be an end to it”.
Magistrates sentenced Hegerty to a 12-month community order in which he will be required to complete 15 rehabilitation activity requirement days, including learning about relationships.
A restraining order for 12-months was imposed, prohibiting him from contacting his victim or going near her home address. He was also excluded from going within 50 metres of her child’s primary school between 8am and 4pm daily.
Additionally, the bench imposed a GPS-monitored exclusion zone for two months, ending on 31 March. It prohibits him from an area covering his victim’s home and her child’s school.
Hegerty must pay costs of £85 and a surcharge of £95.
