A man who stalked his ex-wife with online messages, mail and unwanted face-to-face exchanges has been sentenced.
Robert Hext, 58, engaged in criminal conduct between mid-May and mid-August last year following the end of their 24-year marriage.
Police had notified Hext in April, 2022, that any contact he had with the woman was unwanted. But Carlisle Magistrates’ Court heard today that the woman had made a number of different statements to police about Hext’s illegal activity over the weeks that followed.
She received 57 email alerts about online interactions involving Hext, who also drove past her house and had to be warned off by a manager after turning up at her place of work in Carlisle.
“She said she was shaking as a result,” said prosecutor Peter Bardsley of that latter incident. “Not that she has feared that he would assault her — only that she would receive an avalanche of abuse from him.”
Hext also sent the woman post and approached her in a shop car park, saying “you must hate me so much”, while also asking “can we not just be friends?”.
Hext, of Oulton, near Wigton, was later interviewed by police and asked whether he had stalked or harassed her. “Not to the best of my knowledge,” was his response.
During an earlier magistrates’ court hearing he admitted stalking which amounted to the harassment of her.
His lawyer, Nick Kennon, told a district judge: “He does apologise to the court. It is fair to say he has been slow to understand the situation after a lengthy marriage which has caused upset to his family particularly, which he is remorseful for.”
The district judge imposed an 18-month community order comprising 40 days’ rehabilitation and 100 hours’ unpaid work. Hext must pay his ex-wife £200 compensation and was made subject to a two-year restraining order.
