Fitness instructor tells of harassment ordeal
FITNESS INSTRUCTOR SAYS HARASSMENT CAMPAIGN FORCED HER TO FLEE HOME AND LOSE JOB
A BUSINESSMAN who forced his ex-girlfriend to give up her job and flee her home during a hate campaign after he wrongly believed she had cheated on him with a personal trainer has been ordered to pay her £300 compensation.
Heath Speakman, 49, left fitness instructor Kate Brooks 35, a ‘broken woman’ after he hounded her in the false belief she had a relationship with a colleague known only as Tom.
Speakman, who runs a furniture restoration business, guilt-tripped Miss Brookes with more than 1,800 texts wrongly claiming he had cancer and was about to commit suicide. He even left a handwritten message on her car windscreen warning her he had been diagnosed with an STD.
The father-of-two was also accused of creating a fake Instagram account in the name of Tom and lifting his biographical details to hound Miss Brooks with messages and would use his own social media business page to post offensive messages on Miss Brooks’ keep fit blog.
One included a message on an article she posted called the ‘naked truth,’ commenting: “Wouldn’t worry, everyone has seen you naked.”
The victim, from Disley, near Stockport, was so scared of Speakman she had to be given an escort from work by colleagues and she moved in with a friend.
Police said he created five fake email accounts to harangue Miss Brooks from June to August 2018.
Last October, Speakman, from St Helens, Merseyside, was found guilty in his absence of harassment after Miss Brooks relived her ordeal in the witness box. He was later traced and ordered to face court where he pleaded to the charge.
At Tameside magistrates court, he was sentenced to 14 weeks in jail, suspended for 12 months, and was banned from contacting Miss Brooks for five years under the terms of a restraining order.
He was also ordered to pay a £115 victim surcharge and complete 150 hours of unpaid work. In a statement
Miss Brooks said: “Since I split up from him he has persistently harassed and tried to contact me by any or all communication channels, using threats, emotional blackmail, intimidation and public social ridicule.
“His behaviour is erratic and irrational and caused me extreme stress, upset and extreme anxiety. I’m a nervous wreck and generally sick with it all leaving me a shell of a person I once was living in a constant state of stress, not sleeping. I truly thought I would or could have a heart attack or stroke.
“I took time off work due to him making threats to smash up my car something he threatened to do many times when we were together and fell out. I have had to tell work all that has gone on. He joined the gym after the split and went every day to intimidate me and push me out. I have handed my notice in in case I see him passing. I know he drives past work to see if my car is there. I’m constantly looking over my shoulder I don’t know what he is capable of. “
Prosecutor Shazia Aslam told the hearing: “She has had to move out of the area and quit her job. This has caused quite a lot of distress and significant lifestyle changes for her.”
Adam Bonney, defending, said: “For a long time he had admitted what he has done and he has moved on. He’d had a bag of clothes in his van waiting to deliver them to her, writes a note warning her he has got an STI and got himself checked. The last two months have been hard for him.’’
But JP Brian D’Arcy told Speakman: “We don’t believe this is acceptable behaviour given the lengths you went to with 1,800 text messages, five fake email accounts to prolong the harassment. The harm caused was very serious with significant psychological damage.”