Craigavon judge tells Co Armagh man who harassed his ex and her new partner to 'leave the woman alone'
A man, who harassed his ex-partner and her new partner, has been given a suspended jail term.
Lius Monteiro, aged 29, from Glenmahon Avenue, Portadown, appeared in court on two separate sets of charges.
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In the first set of charges he faced two counts of harassment of a woman between November 6-7 last year. On the second, he faced a single charge of possessing the Class B drug cannabis on August 10 last year.
A prosecutor said that Monteiro approached his ex-partner and her friend on November 6 last year ‘in an aggressive manner’ and the female recorded the incident on her mobile phone. Later he went to her home, standing there albeit at a distance. Then he started banging on her window. The victim recorded the incident, which lasted for one hour, via CCTV.
Monteiro returned the next day to his ex-partner’s home, banging windows and threatening her male friend. After an hour they felt they had no alternative but to call the police.
Monteiro’s barrister, Mr Aaron Thompson, said his client believes his ex-partner started a relationship with a new man before their relationship was over, adding: “He’s never really let that go and that bleeds into all of his behaviour.”
Mr Thompson said his client now accepts fully his blame.
District Judge Michael Ranaghan said he would give Monteiro a chance to prove he could comply with the ongoing work he is doing with Probation. He said he would leave something hanging over his head to reinforce the need “to stop bothering his ex-partner or anybody she has anything to do with”.
"It is no longer your responsibility. Leave the woman alone,” he said, giving Monteiro a five months jail term for harassing his ex and four months prison for harassing her partner – both to run concurrently and suspended for 18 months. He also ordered a restraining order against Monteiro for both victims which will also run for 18 months.
Meanwhile, on a separate charge of possession of two grams of herbal cannabis, the court heard Monteiro was spotted by police at 3am in Portadown’s High Street. He was fined £250 and the £15 offender levy.