Man shoved potato into neighbour’s exhaust as part of hate campaign

A MAN has been jailed after a court heard how he drunkenly shoved a potato into a neighbour’s exhaust pipe during a nasty campaign of harassment.

Mark Bradshaw had been friends with his victim, but the relationship had deteriorated, a judge was told.

A previous incident, in which he slashed her tyres, landed him with a two-year restraining order, forbidding contact with the victim.

But Bradshaw, of School Street, Syston, ignored the court order by repeatedly shouting insults outside her home, including cruel jibes about her weight, in May.

Leicester Crown Court heard how the 38-year-old also threatened, in a series of voice messages, to hurt her. He also “drunkenly slurred” over the phone that he would damage her car before pushing a potato in her car exhaust.

Elizabeth Dodds, prosecuting, said: “The victim is in her mid-50s and lives in a flat close to the defendant. She has been very clear she’s never had a relationship with him and their - former friendship was never intimate.

“Between May 15 and 20, his behaviour was, again, troublesome and he would shout offensive slurs at her.”

Ms Dodds said after he threatened to damage her car on May 19, the victim was “acting vigilantly and became aware he was outside, near her car, at 6.30pm carrying something in his hand”.

She added: “When she went to check her car there was a potato in her exhaust pipe. The next day he was shouting at her and calling her names from his window.”

At an earlier hearing, Bradshaw pleaded guilty to harassment and threatening to cause damage, as well as criminal damage in relation to the potato placed in the exhaust pipe.

Ms Dodds said the background to events turning sour between the defendant and victim some time ago, was when she began a relationship with one of his friends, which appeared to make Bradshaw jealous.

In a personal impact statement, the victim said that in the few years she had lived near the defendant he had gone out of his way to “make her life difficult”. She said: “He seems to want to annoy me for no reason.”

It made her depressed and feeling scared about going out, fearing what he would do next.

The prosecutor said: “She parked her car some distance from her address to keep it safe.

“It meant she had to get a taxi to and from her vehicle, because of her mobility issues as she is disabled.”

The court heard Bradshaw’s record of 28 convictions included 13 breaches of restraining orders since 2010 mainly relating to other complainants he had previously harassed.

Vastani Vaitha, mitigating for Bradshaw, said: “He takes full responsibility for his behaviour and, through me, expresses remorse.

“He understands the impact this would have had on the victim.

“He has an alcohol addiction and although he’s motivated to make changes he struggles to put it into practice when he’s in the community.”

Miss Vaitha said the defendant had been actively addressing his drink problem while on remand in custody and hoped to continue with alcohol treatment after his release. Bradshaw was jailed for 14 months. Judge Philip Head placed him on a four-year restraining order forbidding contact with the victim “by any means whatsoever”.

JUDGE Philip Head said: “This was persistent abuse involving serious threats.

“It was a campaign of harassment. You went to her car and pushed a potato into the exhaust pipe.

“I don’t know if you thought that was funny or whether you were intending she would get into her car and when the pressure built up she’d get a serious fright.

“She’s made a statement about the effect of what you did.