A man from Birmingham has been convicted after stalking a woman by falsely claiming her children were his and turning up uninvited at their school.
Delroy Johnson, aged 46, of West Boulevard in Quinton, faced charges of sending threatening communications and stalking, related to a series of distressing incidents involving the woman in March of last year.
During the hearing at Birmingham Magistrates' Court on Monday, 21 September, it was revealed that Johnson had sent an anonymous, threatening message containing abusive language and death threats to the woman with whom he had previously been acquainted.
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The court heard that despite never being in a relationship with the woman, Johnson claimed her children were his own. On 27 March, he escalated the situation by attending the children’s school uninvited.
Prosecutor Tillita St Juste stated: “The defendant’s friendship with the victim ended due to his behaviour towards her and her children. On 20 March, the victim received a message saying, ‘Come here sexy b****. I will abuse you. I will kill you.’ She recognised the number as belonging to the defendant after calling back. She then requested all her friends to block him.”
Miss St Juste added that Johnson had retained images of the victim’s children and her friends' children, further aggravating the victim’s distress.
The victim described the situation as frightening and said it had negatively impacted her mental health.
It was also noted that Johnson has five prior convictions across ten offences, including common assault relating to the complainant in this case.
Johnson’s representative acknowledged his wrongdoing, stating he recognised how his actions affected the victim and had responded well to previous probation interventions. However, despite such measures, he continued offending. The representative also mentioned issues with alcohol and that Johnson had been complying with bail conditions with no further offences since the trial.
Johnson denied the charges but was found guilty at a trial on 24 July this year. Sentencing was postponed pending a pre-sentence report.
The lead magistrate emphasised the seriousness of the offences and Johnson’s history of violence, referencing this as his sixth violence-related conviction.
Johnson was sentenced to nine months’ custody, suspended for 18 months, with a rehabilitation requirement including 25 Rehabilitation Activity Requirement (RAR) days and 100 hours of unpaid work. He was also ordered to pay court costs of £650 and a surcharge of £187, totaling £837, to be paid at £20 per month.
A restraining order was imposed, preventing Johnson from contacting the victim for five years. There was no separate penalty for the stalking offence.