Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
School support worker stalked her ex- therapist
A school support worker hounded her former therapist with hundreds of emails and voicemails during a campaign of stalking that left him “physically shaking”. Magdalen Pitt, who mentored struggling pupils at Canterbury’s Simon Langton Grammar School for Boys, began harassing her victim after he ended their sessions together. Over a six-month period last year, the 46-year-old sent the psychotherapist 796 emails, left him 45 voice messages on his phone and even handdelivered a letter to his office. Folkestone Magistrates’ Court heard the impact on him was so severe he contemplated early retirement.
But Pitt was spared punishment when she appeared in the dock last Thursday.
The prosecution told how she
had become obsessed with contacting her victim, causing him to feel “frightened and unwell”.
Her stalking began after the therapist abruptly discharged her from his care, with Pitt’s lawyer telling the court she was upset by this as she was owed a refund for the cancelled appointments.
In a victim impact statement, the therapist denied overcharging Pitt and described his ordeal.
He said listening to the voicemails left him physically shaking, adding he felt unsafe to drive at times as he was distracted by his level of anxiety. He said Pitt had also left him feeling intimidated when she threatened to write articles about him for college and professional publications. Before reporting the stalking to police, he described feeling nervous to go to Canterbury police station because he would have to pass by Pitt’s home.
Pitt, who until March worked as a pastoral mentor at Langton Boys’, was in the process of training to become a psychotherapist herself.
Aware of this, her victim considered whether he needed to inform his professional body
about her behaviour, but ultimately decided against it. But following Pitt’s guilty plea to a charge of stalking, she will no longer be allowed to qualify.
Defending his client, Ian Bond asked questions of the severity of the impact on her victim.
“The victim says he was frightened but this case does not include a hint of any threat of violence. She also did not write the articles she threatened,” he said. “A certain level of robustness is required of a professional and the way they handle complaints.
“He sent her just one email at the very start of this dismissing her and sending over the final invoice.
“In the emails she sent it is almost as if she is speaking to herself, just getting her feelings
out onto paper. How many of these emails did he actually see and why didn’t he block her?
“She is previously of exemplary character and has displayed genuine remorse. “She is now seeing a new therapist and getting support she finds extremely helpful.” Before handing her a twoyear conditional discharge – essentially a sentence with no punishment unless she reoffends during the set period – Judge William Nelson addressed Pitt directly. He said: “Unusually, I read all the emails on the file and saw how your mental health degraded.
“I saw that you were in therapy and at the time were in a very difficult place. You were somebody who in large part was guided in this offence by your mental condition.
“It is clear that in the emails you felt that this professional had cut off your outlet to talking about those issues that were troubling you.
“But I am sure that what you did next caused your victim genuine distress.”
Pitt, who lives in Canterbury, was also ordered to pay costs of £85 and a victim surcharge of £26.
Dr Ken Moffat, the head teacher at Langton Boys’, said: “Maddi Pitt was employed from September 2022 to March 2024 as a wellbeing mentor having previously volunteered for a year in our specialist resourced provision. “Maddi informed me in March that she had been charged and, after discussion with the relevant authorities, we agreed that her employment at the school would cease at Easter this year.”