Stalker installed covert camera in victim's house and tracking device on car
JAILED |
Jailing Shaun Dougan, District Judge Nigel Broderick told the 40-year-old, 'I cannot imagine a worse case of stalking.'
Shaun Dougan who was jailed today
Jailing Shaun Dougan, District Judge Nigel Broderick told the 40-year-old that having heard the facts and read the Victim Impact Statement, 'I cannot imagine a worse case of stalking.'
'Clearly this is a serious case,' he told Antrim Magistrates Court, sitting in Ballymena, 'it's not very often, thankfully, that the court has to sentence for stalking as it's a relatively new offence.'
'I have to say however, when I heard the facts and read the outline in the pre-sentence report, and in particular what I have read in the very detailed and thoughtful VIS, it's quite clear that your offending has had a profound effect on your former wife and the mother of your children,' he told Dougan.
With the victim sitting in the public gallery just a few feet away from the dock, Judge Broderick told Dougan he was satisfied the case was so serious, it warranted an eight month prison sentence.
Following an application by defence counsel Nadine Knight however, the judge granted bail pending an appeal of the prison sentence.
Last month Dougan, from the Clooney Road in Ballymena and who runs the family furniture shop in Portglenone, entered a guilty plea to a single charge of stalking in that between 23 February and 7 April last year, he 'engaged in a course of conduct that amounted to stalking' and which caused the victim 'to suffer fear, alarm or substantial distress.'
Initially, Dougan had also been charged with a number of other offences including harassment, unauthorised computer access, domestic abuse and the persistent improper use of a telecommunication network, but they were all dismissed after he admitted stalking.
Opening the Crown case today, a prosecutor said those offences were all subsumed within the stalking offence which came to light in April last year after the victim discovered a tracking device had been attached to her car.
She contacted police and told officers she suspected Dougan was the culprit but at that stage, 'there was no evidence to prove that.'
Two days later however, she contacted police again 'to say that she had evidence to link him' to the device which had been cable tied behind the nearside, rear wheel.
At that time, the victim also made a statement outlining a number of incidents which had happened over the previous two months including a friend alerting her that 'her ex-husband had accessed her Instagram account and had read private messages exchanged between the victim and a male friend.'
That same day, Dougan 'arrived at her door in an irate state, shouting at her and calling her slurs including flea-ridden bitch and threatening that he would disclose messages to work colleagues.'
The prosecutor told the court that having taken screenshots of the private messages, the victim felt that he was using them 'in an attempt to humiliate her and cause distress.'
She changed her password but then received a notification that 'someone in the Ballymena area was trying to access her instagram account,' said the lawyer.
Dougan sent the victim the screenshots of the messages, leaving her feeling 'embarrassed and distressed' and the court heard that he also sent multiple WhatsApp messages referring to the screenshots and to their children but 'in a way that she felt degraded as a mother.'
Shaun Dougan who was jailed today
News in 90 Seconds - June 17th
A work colleague disclosed to the victim that Dougan had sent messages to her colleagues so 'the victim was forced to bring this to the attention of her manager,' perceiving his actions as intended to 'humiliate her in the work place.'
The victim ended up having to take time off work and the court heard that on 3 March, in the space of a single day, Dougan called her a dozen times and bombarded her with 55 WhatsApp messages.
He was threatening that he would disclose the screenshots to friends and neighbours if she did not respond to his messages.
Having found the tracking device on 6 April, the following day the victim found a plug she had not seen before, at the back of her TV in the living room attached to a box which said 'amazon blink model 2.'
'She didn't know what it was but the following day, she was discussing the incidents with her manager and having to take time off work when her manager referred to her getting an amazon blink camera for peace of mind,' said the lawyer.
It clicked with her then what the device was at the back of the TV and when she searched her home, the victim found a covert camera on top of the kitchen cupboards, an LED light covered in black tape.
Arrested and interviewed, Dougan refused to answer police questions and he spent a month in prison before being granted bail.
Lodging a plea in mitigation, Miss Knight conceded the marriage break down was 'particularly acrimonious' but that Dougan is 'entirely remorseful for his behaviour.'
She told the court there had been 'ongoing tensions' between the couple and then when Dougan was told of an incident, 'he entirely overreacted and acted in a way that was unbecoming and unjustifiable.'
'He has expressed sincere remorse,' the barrister declare, adding that given his clear record, good work record and multiple character references, the court could follow the probation recommendation for an Enhanced Combination Order of community service and probation.
Miss Knight confirmed that all of the people who 'put pen to paper' to write the various testimonials were all aware of the offences and what they entailed but Judge Broderick said the references 'do not sit well with the VIS.'
'Had the people you approached for references read the VIS, I think many, if not all of them, would have thought twice about giving a reference because the picture they pint is in no way connected to the experience of the victim,' said the judge.
Imposing the jail sentence and five year restraining order, Judge Broderick then freed Dougan on £500 bail with conditions not to have any contact with the victim.
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