Husband who tried to save on legal fees guilty of harassment
A HUSBAND who claimed he was trying to save on legal fees by contacting his wife directly during their divorce after she started a relationship with a new man has been convicted of harassment.
Matthew Eckersley, 45, sent repeated emails and messages to Zoe Eckersley, his wife of 10 years, asking for information about meter readings, car insurance and maintenance.
But she argued that she felt “terrorised” by his constant contact and said every time she saw his name pop up on a message it would leave her shaken.
She said her estranged husband, the managing director of a property investment company, had hired a private detective and sent messages warning that he was watching her.
“It upsets me, causes me stress. I don’t sleep, I have nightmares about people coming to the house,” she told Stockport magistrates’ court.
“Every time his name flashes up, my heart races and I have flashbacks to all the times he has terrorised me. I’m still being terrorised and watched and pursued.”
Mr and Mrs Eckersley met at school when they were 14. They married in 2005 but split up in August 2015.
Mr Eckersley said he had been advised to use private investigators to prove that his wife’s partner had moved into the £600,000 family home in Knutsford, Cheshire.
Eckersley was found guilty of harassment without violence and ordered to pay £1,500.