Wigan man made ex's life 'a living hell'

Magistrates heard how William Havard, of Arundel Street in Newtown, bombarded his former partner with endless text messages and unannounced visits to her home after the pair split at the end of last year.

Other news: Row over Wigan park and ride facility could go to courtThe 48-year-old appeared before the court on Monday after being found guilty of “harassment without violence” at a trial earlier this month which he failed to attend.

Prosecutor, Katie Beattie, told magistrates how Havard would “regularly turn up” at Ann-Marie Naylor’s home, knocking and shouting through the door to her despite her pleas for him to leave her alone.

The court heard how, on December 19, Havard turned up on her doorstep, knocking for several minutes at a time.

Despite being ignored, Havard continued to knock until Ms Naylor opened the window and asked him to leave.

“He was begging her take him back,” said Ms Beattie. “She said ‘you have got to learn to take no for an answer’. She shut the window and curtains on him.

“He was shouting, then he texted to say he was going to drop off a bottle of wine.

“Just after her son left the house she heard a noise, looked through the curtains and saw a bottle of wine.

“Ten minutes later there was a small bunch of flowers.”

Ms Beattie explained how the victim was forced to turn her phone off at night due to the sheer number of texts she received.

Ms Naylor even went to the extent of unplugging the landline because of Havard’s unwanted calls.

“I live with the curtains closed,” she told the police. “I can’t continue to live in fear constantly listening out for any little noise.”

Four days after this incident, in the early hours of Christmas Eve, police were called to another domestic disturbance at the Marsh Green house.

At around 3am they received reports that a man had been at the property but had driven off in a people carrier with no lights on.

When police apprehended Havard, who had been at Ms Naylor’s house, they noticed he was “clearly drunk”.

Havard had drunk so much that he was attempting to turn the keys which had been removed from the car and handed to the police.

A blood test later showed that Havard was almost four times over the limit.

Havard later refused alcohol dependency treatment.

The court heard how he has now moved on from Ms Naylor and is living with a new partner, who is 10 weeks pregnant.

He was sentenced to a 12-month community order, during which time he will have to complete at least 20 days of rehabilitation activity requirement (RAR).

Havard was also ordered to pay a total of £525, which includes court costs, £100 compensation to the victim, a £100 fine and a victim surcharge fee.

He also received an eight-month driving ban.