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07
Apr
Harrogate man who ‘bombarded’ ex-partner with messages admits harassment
A Harrogate man who flooded his ex-partner with messages after they broke up has admitted harassing her.
Timothy Dove, 58, appeared at Harrogate Magistrates Court on Thursday (April 2) when he pleaded guilty to one offence of harassment without violence.
Prosecutor Alison Whiteley told the court Dove and the named victim were together for six years before their relationship ended last July.
However, after they broke up Dove began hounding the woman with voice messages and emails, despite her telling him not to contact her.
Although Dove told the victim he “didn’t want to create a problem”, he "bombarded" her with messages, including sending her photos of her walking her dog and asking for photos of their pet.
He also sent her various messages about collecting his belongings, the court heard.
Dove told the victim he was “sorry to let [her] down” and thanked her for “sticking by him”. However, he then messaged her saying:
You are not the person I thought you were… you are just a [town] slag.
Ms Whiteley described Dove’s messages, all of which were sent between July 20 and September 12 last year, as “very up and down”.
He also sent the victim a message saying: “F*** you and happy birthday to me, you idiot”.
During a police interview, Dove, of St Leonard’s Road, admitted contacting the woman via voice messages and emails.
The court heard:
The defendant said the contact regarding his property was reasonable, but that three or four messages were unreasonable.
Messages sent when defendant was struggling mentally
Brian Nuttney, defending, told the magistrates Dove is of previous good character and admitted the offence at the first opportunity.
He said the defendant showed genuine remorse for the comments he made and the messages he sent, and has apologised to the victim.
Mr Nuttney said the couple moved to Cornwall together during their relationship, but Dove moved back to Harrogate after they separated.
Dove was happy for his ex-partner to keep the property they lived in, the court heard, and was hoping for an “amicable split”.
Mr Nuttney added:
Mr Dove did want some of his things back, like tools... a lot of the conversation was about getting down there.
Mr Nuttney said the defendant “knows some of the messages are bad”, but added they are "limited" and were sent at a time when Dove was struggling mentally.
Dove, who was visibly upset during the hearing, suffers from depression and PTSD - the latter stemming from a traumatic incident some years prior - and is medicated for both.
The defendant “gave up on life for two years” after the traumatic incident, but he has since had counselling and has been supported by his family.
“It still haunts him and his partner really helped him”, Mr Nuttney said.
He told the court:
This is a very short period of time and the messages that are causing the problems are very short.
It’s not persistent... without the bad messages, this would not have crossed the threshold.
Mr Nuttney also said there have been no further issues since the offence happened.
The case was adjourned for a pre-sentence report to be prepared. Dove will return to Harrogate Magistrates Court on June 6 for sentence.
He was released on conditional bail until then.
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