A MAN has been imprisoned after getting arrested in a McDonalds bathroom due to calling police 15 times asking them to complete unnecessary welfare checks on an ex-partner.
Carl McDonnell, of no fixed abode, was jailed for 31 months at Reading Crown Court after being charged with stalking, criminal damage, wasting police time, possession of a Class A drug and breaching a suspended sentence.
The 39-year-old pleaded guilty to the offences in November last year at Milton Keynes Magistrates Court.
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Prosecuting, Keith Hadrill told the court that between October 6, 2022 and November 11, 2022 McDonnell was frequently showing up at his ex-partners home as well as calling her.
He also showed up to a pub where she was having a meal unannounced and tried to get other people to contact her on his behalf.
On one occasion he called her from an unknown number and said: “Who raped you, I already know.”
Mr Hadrill said: “[The victim] felt scared, frightened and on edge.”
During this time, McDonnell also called police 15 times asking them to do welfare checks alleging that she had been raped.
He was arrested on October 17, 2022 but was released on bail under the condition that he did not contact the woman as well as police or emergency services unnecessarily.
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However, the defendant continued and he was later arrested after he was found hidden in a McDonalds bathroom.
It was during his arrest that McDonnell damaged the rear screen wiper of a police vehicle and while in custody was found with five bags of a Class A drug.
Alex Kettle-Williams, defending McDonnell, said while in custody the defendant has completed seven voluntary drug assessments and two mandatory drug assessments which were all negative.
He has also been attended alcoholics and narcotics anonymous and has abstained from all substances for more than two months.
Sentencing, Judge Sarah Campbell imprisoned McDonnell for 16 months on the harassment charge.
McDonnell was also given a further 15 months for breaching a suspended sentence he was given at Aylesbury Court on April 23, 2021 for engaging in coercive and abusive behaviour with another ex-partner – ‘by checking her body for signs of infertility’.
To run concurrently, he was also handed a 14 day sentence for criminal damage, two months for wasting police time and two further months for the possession of a Class A drug.
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Concluding, Judge Campbell said: “[The victim] said she would live in constant fear. In her personal statement she said she has been on edge and frightened in her own home.”
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