Obsession with neighbour ends in jail sentence

MAN RESORTED TO THREATS HIS ADVANCES

A MAN obsessed with his neighbour resorted to verbal abuse and threats of violence after she turned down his advances.

Alcoholic Peter Bust, 51, of Kinley Road, Stocking Farm, Leicester, was jailed for 12 months. Leicester Crown Court heard he had been given a restraining order in late June, but days later he started yelling abuse at the woman, his next-door neighbour of seven years.

He had begun by sending the woman gifts and love letters, but earlier this year he began calling her names including “prostitute” and “bitch” and accusing her of being in pornographic videos.

Prosecutor Catherine Picardo told the court: “He made obscene and aggressive comments. She also noticed her car had been criminally damaged – the tyres slashed and the door scratched.

“The defendant had an unhealthy obsession with her, but all his advances had been unwanted by the victim.

“She once found washing up liquid squirted over her porch. “She received a handwritten note that said ‘Please look after me. I will pay. Come naked.’” Ms Picardo said that on one occasion the victim went to stay at a friend’s house to get away and Bust tried to break in to her home.

In one rant he told the woman he hoped she would drown in the bath and in one comment, recorded by the victim he said to her: “Someone might be in your gaff in a minute. It might be me.”

She said the victim only managed to sleep about three hours a night during the worst of the abuse. When Bust was arrested at his home he was found to be drunk and he described the victim as a prostitute to the arresting officers.

The court heard Bust already had 105 offences, including sexual assault, on his record, as well as offences of criminal damage and violence.

Priya Bakshi, representing Bust, told the court alcohol was a factor in all the offending.

She said: “Mr Bust drinks a lot. It’s clear he is an alcoholic. He drinks eight cans of strong lager a day.”

She said there was a sad background to Bust’s life and he used to get himself sent to prison on purpose “so he would have a roof over his head”.

She said he had also been left brain damaged by a road accident when he was in his 20s.

Recorder Sunil Khanna, sentencing Bust for harassment and the breach of the restraining order, both of which he had pleaded guilty to, told him: “Your behaviour has had a dramatic affect upon her. She doesn’t feel safe in her own home.

“There has been serious harm caused.”

Jailing Bust for 12 months, he warned him that if he breached the restraining order again, the sentence would be even longer.

OF VIOLENCE AFTER VICTIM SPURNED

Your behaviour has had a dramatic affect upon her. She doesn’t feel safe in her own home

Recorder Sunil Khanna