A north-east stalking victim has spoken of her relief after her tormentor pleaded guilty – sparing her a trial.
Engineering contractor Neil Massie met the woman on a dating website in January 2015, and they ended up in an on/off relationship.
However, she ended the relationship after she found out he was still seeing his wife and another woman.
But Massie did not accept that the relationship had broken down, and on June 7 last year made 15 attempts to phone her.
Over the next month, he made a further 131 calls but received no answer and sent hundreds of e-mails.
Yesterday Aberdeen Sheriff Court heard that the pair met up in October last year and discussed their relationship but she did not agree that they had a future.
She initially contacted the police in February this year but Massie was released without charge.
He then attempted to have flowers delivered to her and continued to e-mail her.
The 37-year-old admitted a charge of stalking when he appeared in court yesterday.
Fiscal depute Karen Dow said his victim had been signed off work as a result of his behaviour, suffering from depression.
Defence lawyer Kevin Longino stressed that his client’s messages had not been threatening.
Sheriff Margaret Hodge said: “Although I accept that the messages were not in themselves threatening or abusive, you have to accept the sheer volume of calls and e-mails was in itself threatening.
“You have to ask yourself what it was about you and your attitude to women that you could not accept what she was saying.”
She fined Massie, of Kingsway in Bucksburn, £500.
Last night, the victim said she was glad she could finally start moving on with her life.
She said: “I have not long returned to work after being off for six months.
“It was constant, it got me down a lot.
“There was probably thousands of phone calls and emails in the space of June to April.
“I thought it was never going to end.
“I did not want this in my life, I did not ask for it.
“If you are in a similar situation do not sit and take it do something about it.”
