A woman who turned up at her lawyer ex partner’s new Fife home during a six-month stalking campaign has appeared in court to admit flouting a contact ban.
Katrena Coulson made 20 ‘no caller ID’ phone calls and sent an email to her victim over four dates between July and October this year, despite being handed a £1,000 fine and three-year non-harassment order in March for the earlier stalking offence.
The 48-year-old appeared, unrepresented, at Dunfermline Sheriff Court last week to plead guilty to breaching the terms of the order.
After Sheriff Krista Johnston suggested deferring sentence for more background information, Coulson said she hoped to “get matters resolved today” and that she works full time at a criminal firm and does not want “bosses to know anything about it”.
However, Sheriff Johnston deferred sentencing until November 20 to obtain the social work report.
Stalking
Coulson, from Edinburgh, previously pled guilty to stalking the man between June 25 last year and January.
Prosecutor Isma Mukhtar told the court the pair worked for different firms in the same building in Edinburgh when their relationship began.
He ended it by text in early May 2023, Coulson moved out of his home and he blocked her number.
Coulson persistently made unwanted contact including turning up at his home, making phone calls from a withheld number, leaving voicemail messages, and sending emails.
He eventually moved from Edinburgh to Dunfermline without telling her.
Emails and text messages continued to be sent throughout October, November and December and on Christmas Eve he emailed Coulson in response to a voicemail and told her to stop contacting him and that her behaviour was abusive and was impacting his welfare.
On January 8 he found Coulson standing at the doorstep of his new home and, “in a state of shock” called police, Ms Mukhtar said.
As they took a statement, the man received six missed calls from a withheld number and two voice messages.
He answered one of the calls and identified Coulson, who said she was at a Tesco in Dunfermline.
Police later advised her to hand herself in as a stalking suspect and she did so.
Coulson’s then-defence lawyer said she had found it difficult to cope with rejection and that she did have genuine concern for his wellbeing.
The lawyer said “other than the odd remark, the conduct could not be categorised as being abusive in the normal sense of the word”.
He added: “She accepts alarm was caused to the complainer.”
Sheriff Wyllie Robertson fined Coulson £1,000 and banned her from contacting her victim for three years.
Non-harassment breaches
In court this week prosecutor Catherine Stevenson said Coulson had made contact with her victim, a defence solicitor in Edinburgh, on July 5 this year.
He received four phone calls from a ‘no caller ID’ and identified Coulson’s voice on answering.
The fiscal said: “She begged him not to report, as she was subject to a non-harassment order”.
Ms Stevenson said Coulson made nine ‘no caller ID’ phone calls to him on September 14.
On October 8 he answered six more such phone calls and, on this occasion, she apologised for phoning and asked him “not to get her done,” the fiscal said.
Coulson went on to phone him in the morning before work.
She also sent him an email on October 9 in which she apologised and asked him not to contact police as she would “likely lose her job,” noting she needs some sort of help and is not in a good place mentally.
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