A HUSBAND who flouted a stalking protection order designed to protect his estranged wife showed a “lack of insight” into his offending, a court heard.

Alan Doran, 59, committed the breach as he repeatedly called his adult daughter in the hope of persuading his wife Alison to allow him back into her home, Carlisle’s Rickergate court heard.

The two-year stalking protection order was imposed last September and forbids any contact with his wife – either directly or indirectly. The court also banned him from going to her workplace, the Morrisons store on Kingstown Road in north Carlisle.

In a voice message that he left for his daughter, the court heard, Doran said: “Ask your mam if I can come home.” This was a clear breach of the stalking protection order.

The defendant, of Richmond Green, Carlisle, admitted breaching the stalking protection order. It was imposed on September 27 last year. 

An earlier hearing heard that Doran persistently tried to call his daughter on December 22 last year, though she did not respond. It was after one of those unanswered calls that Doran left the voicemail that amounted to a breach of his court order.

In an impact statement, Mrs Doran spoke of feeling vulnerable and unprotected, given that her husband had breached the order designed to protect her.

“I don’t feel that Alan will give up trying to get me,” she said. She added: “I am frightened of Alan and what he might do.” She described her husband as “manipulative.”

She also said she felt nervous when she walked to work because her husband knew her schedule and routine.

“I am frightened of seeing him in person,” she added.

Defence lawyer Lauren Heasley told the court: “He’s been married for over 30 years and they were a couple since they were 16. Looking back, he can see that he was not coping with the breakup of the relationship.

"Now, with hindsight, he says he would have dealt with things differently. He felt acutely alone.

“He’s not had a relationship with his adult daughter for several years, so it should not have come as a surprise that she didn’t answer his calls.”

Doran had since seen his GP and been diagnosed with depression and anxiety and prescribed medication. He was now engaging with the divorce proceedings.

“He’s taken the decision to delete family numbers as contacts from his phone,” continued Miss Heasley.

“His remorse has been very clear.” Doran, a man of previous good character, also accepted that he and his wife were better off leading separate lives.

District Judge John Temperley told the defendant: “What I am hearing from Probation suggests that there is work to be done with you.

"There seems to be a lack of insight into the effect of your behaviour, which led to the stalking protection order.” It would be wrong to underestimate the effect of his behaviour, even though it was not the most serious breach of such an order, added the judge.

He imposed a two-year community order, which will include a Building Better Relationships Course and 150 hours of unpaid work in the community. The defendant must also pay £85 costs and a £114 victim surcharge.

The stalking protection order remains in place.