Guilty, TV star’s sinister stalker
He’s handed restraining order
A GARDENER has been given a restraining order for subjecting Scots TV presenter Isla Traquair to a ‘frightening’ stalking ordeal.
Jonathan Barrett developed an ‘obsession and infatuation’ with the former ITV News and Channel 5 News host, which she said left her suffering from panic attacks and made her flee from her home.
Incidents included standing outside and staring directly into the bedroom window of Miss Traquair’s 18th century cottage on the edge of the Cotswolds.
He also walked into her house uninvited and offered her a sandwich, saying: ‘You haven’t eaten today have you? I have some salmon.’
Barrett, 53, had denied stalking Miss Traquair, claiming she had been left ‘disturbed’ after making a true crime podcast and had become fixated on him.
But at Salisbury Magistrates Court yesterday, he was found guilty of stalking.
Mina Searles, chair of a two-magistrate bench, said: ‘We do find you guilty. We find that you pursued a course of conduct that caused alarm and distress.
‘In terms of your evidence, we found inconsistencies which demonstrated an obsession and infatuation with [Miss Traquair] over a fairly significant period.
‘Regarding the sandwich incident, you talked about Ms Traquair’s energies “flagging” by the end of the day. The only conclusion we can draw from this is that you were obsessed and you were watching her.’
Barrett will be sentenced later this month but was immediately handed a restraining order to not contact Miss Traquair or enter or look into her property for one year.
The court previously heard how Miss Traquair, 42, became terrified of Barrett.
She spent thousands of pounds fortifying her home with fences and security cameras before eventually fleeing. She has not returned to her home in a small Wiltshire town in almost a year.
Miss Traquair, originally from Aberdeen, said: ‘It breaks my heart I can’t live in my own home.’