A serial stalker has been jailed after he targeted a second woman just eight weeks after being sentenced for harassing his ex-wife.
Martin Brennan was given a chance to stay out of trouble in June this year when he was given a suspended prison sentence for giving his former spouse a mental breakdown after bombarding her with messages and calls. However, less than two months later, the 36-year-old failed to take that chance after he started targeting a second woman.
Newcastle Crown Court heard that Brennan had been in a relationship with the woman but it suddenly ended in July and he quickly began a campaign of harassment against her. Brennan again bombarded the victim with messages and calls, some of which were threatening, then turned up at her address pretending to be a pizza delivery man.
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Brennan was later made subject of a non-molestation order, which banned him from contacting the woman, but ignored it and continued to make calls. The court was told that, during one phone call, he even said he didn't care if he went to prison.
The victim was finally able to record one of the calls and she contacted the police. Brennan, formerly of Ashington but now living at Long Street, in Topcliffe, in North Yorkshire, has now been jailed for two years after he pleaded guilty to stalking causing serious alarm or distress and breaching a non-molestation order.
Neil Jones, prosecuting, said Brennan and the victim were living in Newcastle when their relationship ended in July this year, just a few weeks after he had been sentenced for stalking his ex-wife. Mr Jones continued: "The complainant first reported the defendant to the police on August 1 as a result of receiving numerous abusive messages from him.
"There was unwanted contact on a daily basis since the breakdown of their relationship. Some were abusive and some declared his love for her.
"On September 2, she received multiple telephone calls from the defendant throughout the day. She had friends at her house and she heard a noise outside the property. Eventually, the defendant approached the front door pretending to be a pizza delivery driver but the complainant immediately recognised him and the police were called.
"He was arrested on September 2 as he was walking away from the complainant's address. He initially provided a false name then attempted to flee the scene."
The court heard that Brennan was arrested and was later made subject of a non-molestation order, which was granted by a family court. However, he breached that order by continuing to call the victim.
Between his arrest and the woman making a further statement on September 24, Brennan had contacted her every day from a withheld number. Mr Jones said the victim did manage to record one of the calls she answered.
In a statement, the woman said she'd been left struggling to sleep at night as she didn't know what Brennan would do next. She added: "This has had a massive impact on my mental health and I feel the only way he will leave me alone is if I'm not here anymore. I'm literally a shell of my former self. I feel this will never end."
The court heard that Brennan, who has 31 offences on his record, accepted that he needed help and was willing to work with the Probation Service. Tony Cornberg, defending, added: "He obsesses and fixates when someone does something he can't understand and, in these last two instances, it's when a relationship has ended."
Locking Brennan up, Judge Robert Adams said: "Such blatant and persistent breaches of the suspended sentence committed so soon after it was made means I have no alternative in my view but to impose an immediate custodial sentence.
"The suspended sentence was imposed for very similar offending. Your compliance was poor. Then, you offended again then breached the non-molestation order." Brennan was also made subject of a five-year restraining order, which banned him from contacting the victim.
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