Penzance man put ex through 'sinister and disturbing' stalking campaign

A jealous and paranoid man who bombarded his ex with increasingly sinister and disturbing messages during a relentless stalking campaign has been put behind bars. Marcus Harbison subjected his ex-partner to such an onslaught of emotional abuse and increasingly nasty threats that she felt physically sick and on edge every time she went to work.

Harbison's stalking campaign became so bad he told his victim that he'd kill himself and it would be her fault, threatened to put a brick through her window and even put a bomb in her car. The 60-year-old appeared before Truro Crown Court on Thursday (June 27) for sentencing on five counts of intentional strangulation, two assaults by beating, threatening to share photograph or film of a person in an intimate state as well as stalking involving the fear of violence.

The court heard that Harbison, from Treneere Road in Penzance, met his victim at the Land's End Hotel where they both worked and started a relationship.

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Ramsay Quaife, prosecuting, told the court how the pair had become engaged several months into their relationship but it came to a grinding halt at a staff party at the hotel when he became drunk and abusive. That night Harbison tried to prevent her from leaving the party by grabbing her car keys and throwing them in a hedge.

She decided to go home and Harbison followed her while a colleague looked for her car keys. When Harbison found the colleague in his ex's home as he returned her keys, he became physically abusive towards both of them. After that incident, despite being told the relationship was over, he subjected her to a "bombardment " of text messages and calls on a daily basis.

Mr Quaife said Harbison, who lost his job at the hotel as a result of his behaviour, would park his car outside his ex's house and when she lost her job and had to move back in with the father of her children, Harbison would park outside his house. He continued to stalk her once she found a new job and a new place of her own.

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Harbison would send her unsolicited flowers at her place of work, would wait for her in the lobby, would follow her home demanding that he spend the night with her. Mr Quaife told the court that when she turned him down, he finally snapped and grabbed her by the throat and became more and more threatening.

"He would follow her to see who she was with and if she was seeing someone else," Mr Quaife said. "He would follow her secretly and even threatened to release photographs of her sleeping and put a bomb in her car and throw a brick at her window. On one occasion she had 26 missed calls from him in two hours.

"When he was arrested and interviewed by police he said he couldn't remember but believed he was still in a relationship and believed she was having an affair with someone else."

In a victim impact statement read out in court, Harbison's ex said his behaviour had made her feel vulnerable and scared and she felt "constantly on edge". She said: "It made me feel like I was constantly being watched. One day I saw someone who looked like him and it made me feel sick. This has taken a toll on my mental health. I have anxiety. Stress is affecting my sleep. I was constantly looking over my shoulder. I didn't feel safe in my own home."

Harbison's barrister said this was a man whose life had taken a dark turn when his wife of 40 years died and he took to drinking again as a way to cope with grief. His solicitor said: "His behaviour towards his ex-partner was unacceptable. He is deeply ashamed about the abuse he inflicted and apologises unreservedly.

"He has not come to terms with the loss of his wife of 40 years. She was a teetotaller and when he was with her, he was sober and he was not offending. He led a law-abiding life. He thought his new partner would offer him the emotional support he needed but he started drinking and felt compelled to fall in with her social circle and the drinking that came with it.

"He convinced himself that she was having an affair behind his back and became suspicious of her colleagues. He threw her altruism back in her face. He has vowed to abstain from drink in the future and he now accepts that the relationship is truly over."

The court was told that Harbison has 21 convictions for 77 offences. Sentencing Harbison to 30 months in prison, His Honour Judge James Adkin said his campaign of stalking over several months between December last year and March this year, was "sinister and disturbing".

He said: "You threatened to kill yourself saying it would be her fault. You threatened to throw a brick through her window and to put a bomb in her car. What amounted to a campaign of stalking has put a severe emotional toll on her and has had an impact on her life. There has been some recognition of the problem you have but this was very serious."

As well as a prison sentence, a restraining order was also imposed on Harbison preventing him from making contact with his victim.