By Staff Reporter

Last updated at 12:39, Thursday, 11 October 2012

A woman who took her boyfriend to the Cumberland Infirmary in the middle of the night found an “obsessed” man who had been stalking her for years parked outside waiting.

Danielle Heggie, 30, was so traumatised by this “most sinister incident” that she believes she may have to move away from the area to prevent the man following her.

Now a judge at Carlisle Crown Court has called for a psychiatric report on 40-year-old Stephen James Owen, who has numerous convictions for harassing Ms Heggie and ignoring court orders to keep away.

Judge Peter Hughes QC said he was “deeply troubled” by Owen’s behaviour – and particularly how he knew that Ms Heggie would be making the trip to hospital.

Owen, of Main Street, Shap, was due to be sentenced after pleading guilty to harassing Ms Heggie but Judge Hughes adjourned the case for a month because he needed to know more about his mental state.

“I am anxious about whether you are going to be able to stop yourself from doing the same sort of thing in the future,” he told him.

Prosecutor Dick Binstead told the court Owen had never had any sort of relationship with Ms Heggie, and she had made it clear to him that she wanted nothing to do with him, but his stalking of her went back to 2004.

At that time he was given a restraining order but he breached it four times in seven months.

He continued breaching the court orders – by shouting at her in the street and sending her dozens of offensive text messages – and in 2006 was jailed for four months for doing so.

Ms Heggie heard nothing more from him until February this year, Mr Binstead said, when she received a friend request on Facebook. She saw him on other occasions before things came to a head when she had to take her partner to hospital.

When she left, at about 1am, she became aware of Owen following her.

Ms Heggie took “a convoluted route” to try to shake him off, but she failed.

She was so frightened she phoned the police as she was driving and was given directions to the police station at Durranhill.

Mr Binstead said Ms Heggie was mystified by how Owen knew she was going to the hospital and could only assume that he had somehow managed to intercept messages she had posted on Facebook.

The court heard that Ms Heggie was now living in fear of Owen.

She obsessively locked her doors at all times and was always looking over her shoulder, she said.

“I feel my whole world has been turned upside down,” she said.

In mitigation, defence barrister Keith Thomas told the court that Owen realised he was “totally in the wrong” and wanted to apologise to Ms Heggie.

Owen sat in the dock with his head in his hands throughout most of the hearing.

He was remanded in custody by the judge until November 12.

First published at 12:34, Thursday, 11 October 2012
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk