A woman has been jailed for a relentless harassment campaign against a charity worker who was caused “absolute misery, fear and mental torture”.

Sally Hanford, 46, repeatedly turned up at the victim’s workplace at the Harrogate Homeless Project over a three-month period and threatened to “take your f**** head off”, York Crown Court heard.

Prosecutor Verity Barnes said the victim was working at the homeless hostel on Bower Street where Hanford was a “frequent user”.

On August 2, 2023, Hanford had a “disagreement” with the named victim over taking a can of cider to her room. She spat at the woman and tried to throw cider at her.

Hanford returned to the hostel the following afternoon and asked staff members when the victim was due to finish work. Stood at the entrance to the hostel, she shouted: “I’m going to take your f**** head off.”

The victim went on holiday for two weeks hoping things would “calm down” but Hanford visited the hostel nine times while she was away. On one of these visits, she told the manager that she “knows people” and that she would “put a bag over (the victim’s) head”.

She then went to the charity's Springboard Day Centre on Oxford Street and told a staff member she would “drag (the victim)” out of her house with a bag over her head.

Another staff member heard Hanford saying: “I will make sure that (the victim) pays for this.”

Restraining order

Hanford was ultimately arrested and bailed on condition that she didn’t go to the homeless centre, but the following month she was found on the outside steps.

She was arrested again and charged with harassment which she admitted. This resulted in a community punishment and restraining order which banned her entering Harrogate and Ripon or going to the victim’s home or workplace.

But even that wasn’t enough to stop Hanford, who went looking for the victim again in July this year.

Prosecuting barrister Ms Barnes said that on July 7, Hanford flouted the restraining order by turning up outside the homeless shelter in Bower Street.

When the victim’s colleague went to investigate, she saw Hanford getting out of one of the run-down vehicles used as “storage” by homeless people in an alleyway next to the Bower Street shelter.

Later that morning, a staff member at the Wesley Chapel homeless project in Oxford Street spotted Hanford outside the Springboard centre.

Hanford was arrested by a police officer on patrol as she walked back towards Bower Street. She claimed she had been staying at “various addresses” including a friend’s flat in Regent Grove, Harrogate, and in Bradford.

When the victim was made aware that Hanford had returned to Harrogate, she felt “very distressed and physically sick”.

“She didn’t feel safe being outside her house and her partner had to accompany her on errands until Hanford was (remanded) in custody,” said Ms Barnes.

23 previous convictions

Hanford, of no fixed address, was charged with breaching a restraining order and ultimately admitted the offence.

She appeared for sentence via video link today (September 2) to be sentenced for the breach and re-sentenced for the original harassment offence.

Ms Barnes said that Hanford had 23 previous convictions for 35 offences including “violent and aggressive” behaviour and a previous harassment offence from 2020.

Defence barrister Andrew Nixon said Hanford had mental health issues but conceded that she had breached the restraining order within four months of it being imposed by returning to Harrogate.

Judge Sean Morris, who gave Hanford the original community order for harassment, said that in his opinion she had returned to the town to intimidate the victim anew.

He told her:

Hanford was re-sentenced to 10 months in jail for the original harassment campaign and given a further 12 months consecutive for breaching the restraining order.

Due to new early-release legislation to address prison overcrowding, she will serve less than half the 22-month jail sentence behind bars before being released on licence.