A stalker who hounded a female bank worker for a year, despite being told to never contact her again, has been jailed for six months.
Steven Phillip Harper stalked 23-year-old Samantha Finlay by making appointments to see her at her branch and bombarding her with texts from June 2013 to June 2014.
After previously admitting the charge, Harper, 30, of Burnside Court, Dundee, had tried to claim he was getting “mixed messages” from his victim and generic messages sent via a dating app had been from her.
However, Sheriff Alastair Brown told him this was “wishful thinking” when he returned to Dundee Sheriff Court in an attempt to withdraw his guilty plea.
Sheriff Brown said: “You will not be allowed to withdraw the plea.
“This is a man who has become obsessed with a lady and did not realise, as he should have, that when a lady says no she is to be regarded as meaning no and is to be left alone.
“If a woman, or anyone else, tells you to stop, you stop. That’s not hard. You were told to stop contacting her and you didn’t.
“He repeatedly went to and contacted the bank and attempted by various devices and subterfuge to get an interview with her and sent her several messages.
“She suffered great distress as a result of this conduct.”
The court heard how Harper had initially asked Miss Finlay for her phone number while opening a bank account.
However, when he tried to invite her out to a pub to see a band, and later for a meal at a restaurant, she had turned him down.
The court heard how Miss Finlay had gone on to ignore his messages and even went as far as telling him never to contact her again when he persisted.
Giving evidence yesterday, Harper said he was 100% sure the Samantha who had sent him a generic message on dating app Zoosk was Miss Finlay.
However, she denied sending him any messages and said she hadn’t used the app in years.
Depute fiscal Susan Ruta said: “I would suggest this was a fantasy. There were various Samanthas contacting you and you just wanted it to be her.”
Defence solicitor Ian Huston told the court that to this day Harper, who has mental health issues, does not believe his conduct caused his victim “fear or alarm”.
“He believed the messages were from Miss Finlay. He believed he was getting mixed messages and continued his pursuit, event though he was told it was not welcome,” Mr Huston said.
Sentencing Harper to six months in prison, Sheriff Brown said justice must be done for Miss Finlay, who has suffered for the last two years through his behaviour and a lengthy court process, which was compounded by her being brought back to give evidence.
He gave no discount but told Harper’s solicitor he considered the sentence lenient as he could have imposed 18 months.
Sheriff Brown also reminded Miss Finlay that Harper is subject to a non-harassment order preventing him from ever contacting her again.