(Image: ANDY FUTERS)
A “drunk and upset” County Durham pensioner pushed her ex-partner and banged on the door of his home after their “on off” relationship fell apart.
Elaine Whale, from Ushaw Moor, stalked and assaulted her former partner, who she got into a relationship with when her “unhappy” 45-year marriage came to an end.
But despite the victim making it “very clear” that he did not want anything serious, this caused arguments and the pair broke up and reconciled several times over two years.
After it ended for good, the 69-year-old kept texting the victim and going to his home - but things escalated in September when the victim started seeing someone else.
Days after being told, a “drunk and upset” Whale started banging on his back door and pushed the victim, leaving his glasses on the floor.
Newton Aycliffe Magistrates’ Court heard on Thursday (August 13) how Whale “thought he would change his mind” about the seriousness of their relationship but “got that wrong”.
Syed Ali, prosecuting, said: “The victim made it very clear that he did not want anything serious. This has been the cause of arguments.
“Finally the victim decided to end the relationship.
“Despite this, the defendant kept on texting the victim and attended his address."
Mr Ali said that, on September 25, Whale visited the victim’s home where she was told he was seeing someone else.
“The defendant kept on attending the address of the victim after,” he said.
“At one point he had to ring the police. When the defendant heard the victim was calling the police then she left.
“Following this, the defendant came back to the address and walked around outside the house."
Shortly after, when the victim was on holiday, his daughter found a letter from Whale where she apologised and said that she still loves him.
When he returned, he noticed damage to the back window pane and the main door and the next day heard banging at the back of his house.
“He became fearful it was the defendant,” Mr Ali said.
“The defendant was standing in the garden and was recording on her phone and shouting. The victim made several requests to leave the address but she did not comply.”
Whale then assaulted the victim.
She left, but soon after banging was heard on the front door once again. The victim then noticed damage to the door, which he believed was caused by a shovel.
“I can no longer sit in my house in peace without worrying about her,” he said in a statement read out by Mr Ali.
In another incident on October 30, Whale wound down her car window and shouted: “I am on bail through you - but you are going to lose your job.”
And on February 20, while the victim was with his new partner, Whale started banging on the door again shouting: “If you are with her, fair enough, but I love you”.
Whale, of Chestnut Grove, was charged with assault, criminal damage, and two counts of stalking.
She pleaded guilty to stalking halfway through a trial after hearing evidence from the victim.
She maintained a not guilty plea for criminal damage and assault, but was found guilty.
Paul Donoghue, mitigating, said Whale, who has no previous convictions, “feels like a fool”.
“She was in an unhappy relationship of 45 years where she went to work, came home, made his dinner, and looked after him," he said. "She had had enough, she had no life.
“She thought the man across the road was the answer to her problems.
“He was the one who showed interest.”
Mr Donoghue said Whale “thought that after a while he would change his mind” about the seriousness of their relationship.
Regarding the assault, he said: “He has no injury, he is about twice her size.
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“She was drunk, upset, and pretending she was recording him."
Mr Donoghue said the door was only left with with minor damage.
Mrs Julie Pikesley, chair of the magistrates' bench, fined Whale £300 and handed her a restraining order of three years.