Jilted woman bombarded ex with thousands of calls and broke into his house 'to instil fear'

Angry: Eimear Skehan, right, was angry after the relationship with Lee Alderman ended

A spurned woman bombarded her ex-lover with thousands of phone calls and broke into his home.

Eimear Skehan has been spared jail despite being found guilty of burglary and harassment.

Kirklees Magistrates’ Court heard how the 30-year-old used to run a restaurant with her former partner Lee Alderman, but things turned sour when they split up.

A district judge told Skehan that she had hoped to instil fear into the mind of Mr Alderman and his new partner during her harassment campaign which lasted a year.

According to the Huddersfield Daily Examiner, he told Skehan: “Your deliberate invasion of his property was calculated to cause upset.

“You then continued the campaign of harassment - you are manipulative and dishonest.”

The court heard that between January last year and this January the 30-year-old rang Mr Alderman 2,136 times and sent him 712 texts.

Niall Carling, prosecuting, told the court that the couple had been in a relationship for some years and had a young son together.

Prior to the breakdown of their relationship they ran the Byram Street-based tea house together. The Examiner reported the couple’s plans to create a top quality brasserie style restaurant, utilising Skehan’s skills as a chef.

But after they separated in 2013, the volume of texts and phone calls Skehan made to Mr Alderman increased ‘substantially’.

Mr Carling said: “Over 12 months there were several thousand telephone calls and messages. Some of these became abusive in nature, making abusive comments about Mr Alderman’s sister and accusing him of various things such as fraudulent activities.”

Mr Alderman called police and Skehan was issued with a harassment warning but her behaviour continued and she was charged with the offence.

Then between December 3 and 9 she broke into his home near to Greenhead Park. At the time Mr Alderman was away on holiday with his new partner and son.

Mr Carling said: “Following the breakdown of the relationship she gave the keys to his property back to him but she’s either kept one or made a copy.

“She’s gained access into his family home and taken various papers and documents”.

The court heard that Skehan, now of Chapel Street in Helmsley, North Yorkshire, had no previous court convictions.

Her solicitor Ben Tighe said following her convictions she has been prevented from progressing in her career and forced to resign from her voluntary post with the NSPCC.

District Judge Michael Fanning told her: “You targeted Mr Alderman’s home at a time you knew he was away on holiday.

“You went in there as part of your campaign of harassment, a very deliberate invasion of his property calculated to cause upset.

“As the evidence unfolded you became more and more unjustifiable.

“I found you to be deceitful, manipulative and dishonest”.

“Judge Fanning sentenced Skehan to 26 weeks in prison, suspended for 18 months.

He told her to undergo 160 hours of unpaid work and made an indefinite restraining order.

This bans her from contacting Mr Alderman and going to his business on Byram Street, which now runs as Zephyr Bar and Kitchen.

Finally, she must pay a total of £700 in costs and victim surcharge.