‘Obsessed’ pensioner stalked woman
73-YEAR-OLD MAN JAILED AFTER VICTIM’S 10-YEAR ORDEAL
A PENSIONER who stalked a stranger for more than 10 years has been jailed.
William Lees, 73, became ‘obsessed’ with the woman, a court heard. They have not previously been friends or in a relationship together, and his barrister said it was a case of ‘unrequited love.’
Now he has been jailed for 12 months.
Manchester Crown Court heard that his offending began in late 2007, when the woman, in her 40s, saw a man she didn’t know looking through the window of her Didsbury home.
She became afraid and called the police, the court heard.
His behaviour continued, prosecutors said, and he followed her in his car when she was on the bus, and looked at her through her windows.
Lees was ‘obsessed with her,’ prosecutor Brian Berlyne said.
“Mr Lees has been stalking her since approximately November 2007,” he added.
In September, the woman, who was described in court as being ‘vulnerable,’ was driving close to her home when she saw Lees walking towards her car.
He was banned from being in the area by an indefinite restraining order, which prevented him from being within a mile of her home.
She stopped the car and shouted at him, asking Lees ‘why he was following her.’
“I want to be your friend,” Lees replied. The victim called the police. In a statement read to the court, she said: “I am afraid of this man. I have had to take medication to calm me.
“This man does not know me, nor do I know him. I am terrified of why this man is following me.
“I believe he has followed me more than I have witnessed. I am frightened to be in my own home.”
Lees, of Park Lane, Poynton, Stockport, has previous convictions, all of which relate to the woman.
In 2012, a restraining order was imposed to last indefinitely.
The court heard that he breached the order in 2016, receiving a suspended sentence.
The sentence was activated last year after he breached the order again, the court was told.
Defending, Estelle Parkhouse said Lees has an ‘affliction and compulsion that has plagued him for many years.’
“He appreciates that this obsession must now come to an end,” she added.
Ms Parkhouse said: “He doesn’t mean her any malice or evil intent,” saying it was a case of ‘unrequited love.’
Sentencing, Judge Martin Walsh said Lees had never received any ‘encouragement’ from his victim.
“If you continue to behave in this manner, knowingly breaching your restraining order, you will receive longer and longer custodial sentences,” the judge warned.
Lees pleaded guilty to breaching the restraining order.