NHS manager lived in fear of ex who bombarded her with 25 calls an hour
An NHS manager had to take time off with ‘extreme stress’ after her ex-partner bombarded her with up to 25 abusive calls per hour during a relentless campaign of harassment.
Sarah Thompson said she was so scared of Jonathan Hale, 50, that she fitted security cameras at her home and would spend hours at night peering through the windows in case he was lurking outside.
The mum-of-three, from Chester, described how the calls left her ‘belittled and humiliated’, with each alert on her phone now making her feel ‘anxious, sick and traumatised’.
‘I want my life to go back to where it was,’ Sarah said in a statement read at Warrington Magistrates’ Court where she was awarded a five-year restraining order after he admitted harassment. ‘But at this stage I feel it will never be.’
She and Hale had been in a relationship lasting around 10 years but the court heard they split up in April 2021 due to his abuse of alcohol.
Michael O’Kane, prosecuting, said: ‘They still had a connection as they have a young child but due to the animosity between them Ms Thompson advised that she did not want to be contacted, including for child contact unless through a third party.
‘Due to the animosity that there was, they seemed to be unable to communicate amicably.’
During one incident on November 25, the prosecutor said Sarah ignored a call from Hale at around 8pm.
He went on: ‘When she did not answer, the defendant rang her another seven times.’
Mr O’Kane said Hale then sent angry messages and voice mail messages to her, including calling her ‘a b*****d’.
He added: ‘She ignored this as she said it was making her feel anxious and worried about the defendant attending her address.
‘She then received more calls – and in total there were 27 missed calls. She felt that she was being bombarded with calls.’
Describing the impact of the campaign, Sarah said in her statement: ‘I couldn’t sleep at night and had to take time off work. I am a NHS nursing manager and I could not function because the phone calls and texts were relentless.
‘I was staying up at night, looking at every car in the road and I would continue looking out the window to make sure that Jon was not there. I had to have cameras installed to make myself feel more safe. I could not concentrate on anything. I was afraid for myself and family.
‘Due to this the calls and texts were made at night and the early hours of the morning. I often fell asleep to them and I could not block him. I was frightened he would use other means to contact me or he would contact my elderly mother. I felt trapped.
‘Friends often encouraged me to go to the police but I felt that it would make the situation worse. I have changed my lifestyle. I took myself off social media in fear that Jon could see what I was doing in my life.’
She went on: ‘I feel like a failure in all aspects of my life.
‘I have no confidence. I feel I should have come forward sooner. Every time I receive a text message on my phone, the text sound makes me feel anxious and sick and traumatised. I have been belittled and humiliated.’
Hale, from Littleton, Chester had a previous conviction for malicious communications following a feud with his brother over a football season ticket.
He was also sentenced him to a 12-month community order with requirements that he completes 200 hours of unpaid work, 30 days of rehabilitation activity and the Building Better Relationships programme. He was also told to pay £234 in costs and victim surcharge.
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