A STALKER who refused to accept his relationship with a former partner was over threatened to 'torture' her, a court heard.

Allan Mattinson, 27, from Kirkbride, bombarded the woman with 140 WhatsApp messages after setting up fake accounts so he could continue contacting with her, despite knowing she wanted nothing more to do with him.

He pleaded guilty to stalking his ex-partner between November, 2021 and May this year.

Prosecutor Robert Wyn Jones told Carlisle Crown Court that the couple were in an on-off relationship which began in October 2019, and then resumed in February 2020 when Mattinson came out of prison.

“It was a stormy relationship and sometimes violent,” said the barrister. “It ended in November, 2021. But the defendant created a number of fake accounts on WhatsApp, and through these contacted the woman 140 times.

“He also contacted the woman through her bank account, making a transfer of 1p which allowed him to add a message.”

Mr Wyn Jones said the messages included one threat to torture the woman and another to let down her car tyres.

“He would be constantly outside her house and he would follow her when she was walking her dog.

“She had to hide from him in the woods.“

He also turned up at the woman place of work, again prompting her to hide behind the building. On April 23, he began throwing stones at her house windows as he tried to call her.

On another occasion, said Mr Wyn Jones, Mattinson followed the woman as she drove into Carlisle and, pulling up alongside her at a traffic light, he wound down his window and began yelling at her.

The defendant has 31 offences on his record, including harassment.

Jeff Smith, defending, said that when the defendant is released from jail he would move to Longtown.

Mr Smith said: “He’s had a long period of time to reflect on his behaviour. He knows it was entirely inappropriate.”

Mr Smith said Mattinson, from Kirkbride, had experienced a difficult childhood, which saw his father die when he was aged eight and his mother struggling with alcohol problems.

'A catalogue of determined and unpleasant behaviour'

Judge Nicholas Barker told Mattinson: “She expected you to leave her alone when the relationship ended."

Instead, the defendant had persistently stalked her and threatened her and could not respect her desire to be away from him.

The judge continued: “You were fixated, I suggest, more on a desire to control her than your desire to have a relationship with her. You created fake [online] profiles so she would not be aware that it was you.”

That devious action showed the lengths he was prepared to go to continue his contact and control the woman. The judge described the offence as a 'catalogue of determined and unpleasant behaviour,' designed to maximise the victim's distress.

“You are simply not capable of accepting that a relationship has come to an end," concluded the judge.

He suggested the defendant's childhood traumas may have given rise to his difficulties with rejection.

But Judge Barker told Mattinson: “This is something you are going to have to learn to deal with; any person, woman or man, is entitled to try to end a relationship and for that to be respected.”

If he could not tackle this issue, warned the judge, Mattinson was likely to face longer and longer jail sentences. The defendant was jailed for 10 months and given a five year restraining order.

This bans any contact with the victim and nor can Mattinson go within 100 metres of her home or workplace. 

Also Read: Stalker sent 140 WhatsApp messages and banged on woman's windows