Arundel man jailed for harassment
20 August 2010
A 58-year-old business man from Arundel was yesterday (19
August) sentenced for harassing a woman in her 20s.
Michael Scott, of Stewards Rise, Arundel, was sentenced to three
years' imprisonment by Judge Ackner at Chichester Crown Court for
the serious harassment of a 23-year-old Worthing woman in May and
June, 2009.
Scott changed his plea from not guilty to guilty on the first day
of a trial last month.
The victim received numerous menacing telephone calls to her home
and work from Scott. During these calls he told her she was going
to be taken into slavery and shipped to the Middle East because she
was a pretty girl.
In a police interview, following his arrest on 29 August last year,
Scott said that he did not know the woman but that she, or possibly
another female, had bumped into him in the street in Worthing and
not apologised. He admitted to making the calls to get revenge for
this.
Upon sentencing Scott, Judge Ackner said the offence was so serious
that only a custodial sentence could be given.
DC Faye Bennett, the senior officer investigating the case, said:
"The sentence imposed on Scott reflects the serious nature of the
offence and the effect that this man's actions had on the victim
and her family."