Grieving dad spared jail after stalking ex-mistress
Judge recognises mitigating circumstances of son’s killing
A father grieving over the killing of his son resorted to harassing and stalking his mistress when she ended their affair, a court heard.
Paul Crittenden bombarded the woman with phone calls and texts and left stickers with the picture of his tragic son, Tom, who died, aged 21, from a single stab wound in Maidstone.
The 52-year-old businessman was said to have “shelved his grief” following the death of his “gentle giant” son in September 2011.
Maidstone Crown Court heard Crittenden became overbearing and suffocating towards his lover when the relationship was no longer intimate.
He also threatened to reveal intimate photos he had taken of her. He told her he would leave “Tom stickers” on her house and car.
Prosecutor Bridget Todd said Crittenden and the married mother had been having an affair for more than 10 years.
He was said to have thought of his wife as a sister and his mistress as more like a wife. But the relationship with the victim began to deteriorate three years ago.
Miss Todd said: “He stated on one occasion when she tried to end their relationship that he would never leave her alone and she would never be free of him.”
Crittenden, formerly of Marion Crescent, Maidstone, admitted stalking, causing serious alarm and distress, between January and March last year.
He appeared before Judge Jeremy Carey, who jailed Caleb White, of Cornwall Close, Shepway, for 14 years in May 2012 for the manslaugher of 6ft 3in Tom.
Crittenden, now of North Lockside Road, Chatham, was given a 10-month jail term suspended for two years after the judge said there was powerful mitigation and an unusual background.
He wept as Judge Carey said he should thank the victim for her compassion, his wife, who was standing by him, and his loyal brother, Keith, who wrote to the court.
He will have to complete 150 hours’ unpaid work and pay £475 costs. An indefinite restraining order was made banning contact with the woman.