Ludlow man who breached restraining order is locked up
The court was told Green’s victim had shouted ‘100 metres’ at him as he breached the terms of the order
A man has been jailed after breaching the terms of a restraining order.
Christopher Green, 49, of Old Street, Ludlow, appeared at Shrewsbury Crown Court where he admitted one count of breaching the order.
Alexa Carrier, prosecuting, said that the offence also put him in breach of a suspended sentence he had received for charges of intentional strangulation and affray in October last year.
The court heard that the breach had taken place on February 26 this year.
Green’s former partner, who is protected by the order, had been in Ludlow and was returning home with a takeaway when she encountered the defendant.
Ms Carrier said that the pair had ‘grunted’ at each other in acknowledgement as they passed on the street.
The court was told the woman had then taken a route to try and avoid any further contact, but had noticed Green - this time within 20 metres of her.
Ms Carrier said the woman shouted “100 metres” at Green, in reference to the terms of the restraining order, which do not allow him to go within a specified distance of the victim.
The court was told that the incident had left the victim with “heightened anxiety”.
Rosemary Proctor, mitigating, said that Green’s offence was “not sinister, just very, very stupid.”
She added that the incident was “an act of petulance”, but said Green was a working man who has been a plasterer for 30 years.
The court was told he has also been dealing with potentially serious health issues and “accepted in the pre-sentence report how phenomenally stupid he was”.
She added: “I would ask that he is given one more chance.”
Judge Trevor Meegan, sentencing, said CCTV had shown Green “turning and following” the victim.
He accepted the defendant’s remorse but said he was not prepared to suspend his sentence again.
He said: “Breaches of restraining orders are serious offences because they are designed to protect victims and indeed, given them confidence that even in a small town they can go about their business without fear.”
He added: “This was a deliberate breach and it occurred during a suspended sentence order when you were told that if you committed another offence it would be activated.”
Continuing the judge said: “The sentence cannot be suspended again, you have already breached one suspended sentence order, you have already been given repeated chances by the courts so a suspended sentence is not justified.”
Green was sentenced to four months for the breach, while 18 months of his suspended sentence was activated, making a total sentence of 22 months.
Judge Meegan said he would serve half of the sentence, minus five and a half months spent on qualifying curfew while awaiting the hearing.