Sheriff jails poison pen letter writer
‘Your beliefs are not based on any rational or, indeed, proper basis’ – Sheriff Ireland
AN ‘OBSESSED’ Sound of Kintyre man has been jailed for sending countless poison pen letters.
Joseph Carson sent letters and texts to his elderly 80-year-old mother and her former boyfriend, aged 77, and their friends and neighbours in a bid to bring their relationship to an end.
Carson, who was sentenced to eight months at Paisley Sheriff Court last week, has also been banned from approaching or contacting his mother and her former partner for the next five years.
Carson, 58, admitted sending numerous letters to his mother, the police and social work department, claiming he sent them because he was looking out for her.
He denied letters were of a threatening or abusive nature which was likely to cause a reasonable person to suffer fear or alarm, and therefore illegal.
Carson sent a host of letters to the couple, neighbours of both pensioners, and the parish church where his mother regularly worshipped and his father’s ashes are scattered.
In the letters, he branded his mother’s boyfriend ‘a vindictive, evil man of malice’.
Giving evidence in his own defence, Carson said he sent them because he was
worried for his mum and was looking out for her.
He said: ‘He disrespected my mother outwith her presence.
‘I was trying to put the fear of God in to him because of what he’d done to me, my mother, and my deceased father.
‘I was trying to get rid of him.
‘The police wouldn’t do anything – they wouldn’t attend my mother’s house to protect her from this man, the social work service also refused to attend my mother’s house.
‘He threatened my mother in hospital – she was in a vulnerable, elderly position – to go against her son and only child.’ Earlier this year Carson was found guilty following his poison pen campaign, which he carried out between December 13 and 30, 2014, and sentence was deferred for background reports.
Delusions
After hearing that Carson had been assessed by a psychiatrist as having ‘delusions’ and ‘a fixation’ about his mother, Sheriff Seith Ireland jailed him for the offence.
The sheriff had previously warned ‘self-obsessed’ Carson that ‘custody is a distinct possibility’ for him, pointing out that he had met social workers on two previous occasions but they had been unable to compile a report on Carson due to the way he responded to their questions.
Sheriff Ireland said: ‘This is an anxious case. You are someone who has delusions, which are of your own making, as to what pertains to your mother.
‘I am of the view that this is such a serious case that a Community Payback Order is not appropriate.
‘The sentence has to be one of a custodial nature. In my view you are somewhat fortunate this case was reduced to summary procedure.’
Such cases carry a maximum jail term of 12 months and the sheriff added: ‘The sentence will give some protection for your mother and her former boyfriend, who are the principle victims of this campaign of harassment.
‘You have delusional beliefs your mother was at danger but she does not believe she was at any danger, and she was not a woman without any substance or ability.
‘Your beliefs are not based on any rational or, indeed, proper basis.’
He also imposed a Non-Harrassment Order (NHO) on Carson, banning him from approaching or contacting his mother and her former partner, directly or indirectly, and entering their home streets for the next five years.
Breaches
And he warned Carson that he could be jailed for up to five years if he breaches the NHO.
Carson wrote letters to the sheriff during the trial and made comments about him to people preparing the reports.
But Sheriff Ireland insisted they had no bearing on his decision and said: ‘I ignore any comments about me – we’ve all got broad shoulders.
‘I’m putting that material completely out of my mind.’
Carson, who laughed and shook his head throughout the hearing, said: ‘I will be appealing’, as he was led to the cells to begin his prison term.
Speaking afterwards, Carson’s mother’s former boyfriend, who had been in court for the sentencing, said: ‘I’m glad it’s over. I feel sorry for him.’