News / Man jailed for continuing to harass woman
A FORTY five year old man who breached a non-harassment order by approaching his former partner at a Lerwick optician has been jailed for two months.
Oliver Tait, of Lingaro, Bixter, admitted committing the offence on 3 March when he appeared from custody at Lerwick Sheriff Court on Monday afternoon.
Procurator fiscal Duncan Mackenzie said the incident had caused the woman considerable distress and was “far from a chance encounter”.
The court heard that the woman had seen Tait, who had previously committed a “large number” of domestic aggravations against her, on Lerwick’s Commercial Street when accompanying her mother to an appointment at Kelly’s Opticians.
While they were waiting to be seen he walked into the opticians, where he did not have an appointment, and claimed to the receptionist that he was in pain and needed to be seen.
He then sat down and smirked at the woman, the fiscal said, at which point she became distressed. She had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of his previous conduct towards her, and her heart rate increased as she became anxious.
Mackenzie said Tait had lied to police, claimed he was unaware of the non-harassment order which was imposed by the court in November 2015 and that he had an appointment.
The fiscal said he “very much doubted” Tait had been in any serious pain, and it was difficult to convey the effect his behaviour had on the woman.
“He still feels it necessary to approach or attempt to approach this woman,” the fiscal said. “There can be no reason other than to cause her distress.”
Defence agent Tommy Allan said his client had a long-standing problem with alcohol, although he maintained drink was not behind this latest offence.
He said Tait had the prospect of obtaining work in England or Wales and was inclined to leave Shetland to pursue one of those options.
Having spent a night in custody he realised that once he saw the woman in the optician’s waiting room he should at that point have left.
But he insists that he was “in a lot of pain” following laser eye surgery, which had been used to treat glaucoma.
Sheriff Philip Mann told Tait that he was “refusing to let the penny drop” and had wilfully “put yourself in close proximity” to the woman, and he had no alternative but to impose a custodial sentence.
He jailed Tait for two months, reduced from three months to reflect his early plea of guilty, and imposed a new three-year non-harassment order.
In addition to not contacting the woman either directly or indirectly, the order states that Tait must remove himself from any premises at which he finds the woman present.
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