Hospital porter called colleague 68 times in a day to ask for date
MAN EVEN GOT SEVEN-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER TO RING AND ASK ‘WHY WON’T YOU SPEAK TO MY DAD?’
A HOSPITAL porter at the Manchester Royal Infirmary has been banned from contacting one of his colleagues after he phoned her 68 times in one day to ask for a date - and told her ‘if I can’t have you then nobody can.’
Obsessed Anthony Wells, 38, left his victim living in fear as he stalked the hospital corridors looking for her.
He even got his seven-yearold daughter to call her and ask her ‘why won’t you speak to my dad?’
Manchester magistrates court was told that Wells had mistakenly believed that his platonic friendship with the woman – a clinical support worker at the hospital – could develop into a relationship.
When she said no and they broke off contact with each other, he told her: “If I can’t have you then nobody can.”
During one incident the woman, who is in her 30s, had to dodge Wells by hiding behind a cubicle curtain and then climbing onto a bed whilst a patient was in it as Wells walked passed.
He also began using fake Facebook profiles to message her, adopted her surname and then tracked down her son on Snapchat and messaged him.
Police were called in after he continued to call her, despite her attempts to block his number and social media accounts.
In a statement the victim said: ‘’I am constantly on edge as a result of his behaviour, I am always worried that something will happen.
“My family and friends are always contacting me to see if I am OK. He just constantly messages me and makes phone calls.”
At Manchester magistrates court, Wells, from Withington, admitted a charge of harassment without violence between January 1, 2017, and September 24, 2018, and was banned from contacting the woman for two years under the terms of a restraining order. He has lost his job at the hospital. Laura Keegan, prosecuting, said: “She has blocked him but he still continues to call her. This has been going on for over 18 months.
“In June 2017, there was 68 phone calls received in one day. He has even had his seven-year-old daughter contact her asking why she won’t speak to her dad.
“I ask for a restraining order not to contact her or go to her address. She has asked for him not to go to her place of work, but it will cause him difficulty if he requires treatment.”
Andrew Gilmore, defending, said: “This was a relationship situation where one person takes it very, very badly and he has taken it worse than that.
“He had some correspondence from the defendant where he said it wasn’t clear whether they were in the relationship or not. It appears there is some underlying mental health issue to this and I don’t think he should have a period in incarceration.
“There’s an elect of high culpability in regards to the persistence – but I would say overall it’s in the lower culpability.
“He has been dismissed from his employment at the hospital so he won’t be returning there for work.”
Wells was given a 16-week prison sentence, suspended for two years, and will have to complete a community order to include 20 days of rehabilitation work. He will also have to pay £200 costs.