A judge has asked for his apologies to be passed to a woman after the sentencing hearing of a man who stalked her was postponed for a month at short notice.
The woman had attended Carlisle Crown Court today (Monday) intending to read out a statement outlining the impact of Adam Goodman’s offending upon her.
Goodman, 35, pleaded guilty to two charges when he appeared at the city’s magistrates’ court last month.
One was an offence of stalking involving fear of violence which occurred between January 19 and January 23 this year. This, court papers show, involved him attending the woman’s Carlisle home several times, damaging property and making threatening phone calls.
The other charge he admitted was causing damage to a Mercedes vehicle on January 22.
Goodman’s case was committed by a district judge to the crown court, where he was due to have been sentenced by a judge this morning.
But as the case started, the defendant’s lawyer, Jeff Smith, announced that no probation service pre-sentence report was available for the hearing.
Mr Smith said he was aware that the victim was at court and wished to read an impact statement to the judge, Recorder Paul Hodgkinson. But the lawyer asked for the case to be adjourned for several weeks so that a background report could be produced to assist with the sentencing exercise.
“I am concerned that my application will impact on the stress that she has suffered,” said Mr Smith. But the probation service had “significant” worries about Goodman’s “situation”, his “role in proceedings” and his criminal record, and so a report was required.
“Many of his problems have been caused by depression and anxiety, by his abuse of drink and his abuse of drugs,” said Mr Smith.
Recorder Hodgkinson agreed that a report was needed but in response to a further submission by Mr Smith, he said of Goodman’s criminal conduct: “He is responsible for going off the rails — nothing else is responsible for the way he acted. He is in control of his actions.”
Mr Smith replied by saying that Goodman accepted his offending in January had been “unbelievable and unacceptable”.
Goodman, of no fixed address, is due to be sentenced on March 21, when the woman’s impact statement will be read to the court.
He was remanded in custody in the meantime by Recorder Hodgkinson, who asked for his apologies for the postponement to be passed to the woman through the prosecution.
