A 54-year-old man has been handed a suspended prison sentence for a stalking campaign of a teenage boy.
Nigel Talbot, from Stewart Avenue, Cookstown admitted engaging in a course of conduct amounting to stalking, causing the injured party to suffer fear, alarm or substantial distress.
Dungannon Magistrates’ Court heard the teenager told police Talbot first approached him on February 5, 2024 while he was waiting for a bus, asking about his interests and why he was studying at the local college.
The injured party was feeling very uneasy and provided one-word answers.
Talbot then offered to give him a lift from the collage and requested a phone number, causing further unease and fear at the interaction.
A similar situation occurred a few days later and the injured party again provide one-word answers.
From then on he began waiting to get on the bus so Talbot wouldn’t sit next to him.
On March 4, 2024 the defendant turned up at the boy’s college requesting information about him including whether or not he actually attended there.
Staff refused to discuss this and instead alerted police.
On March 14, 2024 Talbot arrived at the injured party’s home address which “caused such shock he almost blacked out in fear”.
Police were alerted and Talbot was arrested.
His phone was seized for examination which contained a screenshot of the injured party’s Facebook profile and a message indicating where he lived.
During interview Talbot made no admissions but did state on the day he attended the injured party’s home, “he didn’t know where he lived but had been calling at different houses and asking where he resided.”
A defence barrister told the court the defendant has no previous convictions of any kind and the charge was admitted in a timely manner.
It was confirmed Talbot met the injured party at a bus stop where they chatted on general topics.
“It is accepted he contacted the boy by phone but no such contact was returned, so he was concerned and went to find out if everything was okay,” said the defence.
“He should have know his persistent course of conduct had the potential to cause fear or distress.”
A pre-sentence report indicated the behaviour was “somewhat out of character” and probation intervention isn’t recommended at this stage as there is a low likelihood of reoffending.
District Judge Francis Rafferty told Talbot, “You seem to have led something of a life of solitude. The pre-sentence report notes you have an inability to read social cues which suggests that somehow you were unaware, whether by wilful blindness or not we can’t say, as to how uncomfortable your behaviour was making this young person.”
He continued: “I am concerned by the escalation. It’s not unusual to speak to someone at a bus stop but to obsessively stalk them – and stalking is the right word – to the extent you are trying to find out where they live and ultimately succeeding. Also going to their school and seeking details about them. You had a picture of them on your phone. This is all concerning behaviour and very distressing to the injured party.”
Talbot was handed a five month prison sentence suspended for 12 months and placed under a two year Restraining Order banning contact with the injured party or entering the area of his home or college.
