Besotted Tory councillor ‘told ex he’d kill her cats when she rejected him’
A BESOTTED Conservative councillor threatened to kill his former girlfriend’s cats when their relationship came to an end.
Mark Mewse, 64, subjected Sarah Houchin to a ‘constant barrage’ of gifts, flowers and love notes in an effort to rekindle their workplace romance, a court heard.
Bus driving instructor Mewse taught Miss Houchin before they started dating in December 2021.
Their eight-month relationship ended after a row, but Mewse embarked upon a campaign of harassment, including blowing kisses at her while she drove her bus, sending flowers and cards, and buying Christmas presents for
‘Upset, angry and scared’
her cats. When Miss Houchin, who is in her early 50s, warned him she would go to the police if he persisted, he responded: ‘If you go to the police I will kill your cats’, prosecutor Elizabeth Valera said.
She said Mewse used his knowledge of the local bus timetable to track Miss Houchin and would appear at the depot or wave at her from the pavement.
Miss Houchin told Salisbury Magistrates’ Court: ‘I was anxious and nervous. I should not have to drive around feeling nervous because there is this person jumping around waving their arms at you the whole time.’ Asked how she felt about the prospect of her cats being killed she said ‘extremely upset, angry but most of all scared… anyone who knows me knows how much I love my cats’.
Ms Valera told the court: ‘Sarah makes it extremely clear she wants nothing to do with Mr Mewse… You have constant messaging which she describes as a barrage. You have flowers being sent unsolicited, unwanted, and you have cards sent and she does not want them.’
Mewse was found guilty of harassment. The Salisbury city councillor shook his head as he was convicted yesterday.
He faces a possible jail term of up to six months when he returns for sentencing next month and will be given a restraining order preventing him from contacting Miss Houchin, whom he pursued from September 2022 to July last year.
Magistrate Sarah Neish told him: ‘You carried out a course of conduct that you knew or ought to have known amounted to harassment. It is inconceivable that all of the course of conduct could have occurred randomly or with [Miss Hounchin’s] permission.’