A WOMAN whose ex-lover stalked her for 15 months today spoke of her nightmare ordeal.

When James Hosey walked free from court after admitting harassment and criminal damage charges Janet Bond, 27, said: "He is obsessed and unless he is inside he isn't going to stop.

"I knew when I finished our relationship that he would not give up easily but I never dreamt it would go on this long.

"I have known peace for the first time in a long time since he has been in custody and it has been like heaven. He was always one step ahead of us and the police.

"At one stage he persuaded the council to board my house up by telling them that I was not living there any more."

Hosey, 44, was put on probation after admitting harassment and criminal damage.

Miss Bond was supported throughout her ordeal by Mormon priest Edgar Lynn who sought permission from his Bishop to move in with Miss Bond after his home in Alexandra Close, Clayton-le-Moors, was badly damaged by fire.

Mr Lynn, a retired robotics engineer, said: "Janet was a member of our church before she met Mr Hosey and we are taught to assist people wherever we can.

"We are not a couple and we told him that, but it has not made any difference. The last 15 months have been a nightmare.

This will not be the end of it but I am determined to stand by Janet. She does not deserve to have been put through such an ordeal."

Blackburn magistrates heard that Hosey played cat and mouse with his victims in a 15-month campaign of intimidation. The court was told the spurned lover attacked the home of Miss Bond who he thought had taken up with Mr Lynn.

He smashed every window in her home, poured glue into door locks on numerous occasions and bombarded her with letters and phone calls.

He eventually began to pay two teenage boys to break the windows and it was the boasts of one of the youths which eventually led to Hosey confessing his involvement.

Hosey, of Redearth Road, Darwen pleaded guilty to harassing Miss Bond and Mr Lynn, two charges of incitement to commit criminal damage and three charges of criminal damage. He asked for a further seven charges to be taken into consideration.

Hosey was put on probation for two years and ordered to pay a total of £1,500 in compensation.

He was also made the subject of a restraining order which prevents him from having any future contact with Miss Bond or Mr Lynn or from going within 100 metres of their home in Broadgate, Darwen.

Richard Mitcalf, prosecuting, said the allegation was one of stalking where there had been numerous incidents over a prolonged period of time. Miss Bond and Hosey had struck up a relationship in January 1998, but she ended it in June and ordered him to leave their home.

Mr Mitcalf said a series of events had led to her obtaining a county court Injunction against Hosey which was in force until March 10 this year. "That date is important because as soon as the injunction ended the floodgates opened," said Mr Mitcalf.

"Letters and phone calls were received and then windows were broken over and over again."

More than £650 worth of damage had been done to Mr Lynn's car and the bill for repair and replacement to door locks was £447.

"The compensation claim for £3,200 does not cover the total damage because the victims were under such regular attack that they could not accurately record all the damage.

"To add insult to injury these people have been paying the council for the repairs."

He said the couple had gone to see Rossendale and Darwen MP Janet Anderson at one of her surgeries, but were met by Hosey.

He said: "Once again there was abuse and threats, witnessed by the local MP."

Ian Holland, defending, said Hosey had been in custody since August 10.

"It was a great weight lifted off his shoulders once he was able to admit exactly what he and others had been responsible for," said Mr Holland. "He is basically a law abiding person but there was something that happened at the end of his relationship with Miss Bond that led him to commit the offences. "He regrets his behaviour and now admits that he was completely out of his mind for 15 months," said Mr Holland. "He accepts what he has done and is contrite in the extreme."

Hosey was charged under Section 2/1 of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 which Darwen and Rossendale MP Janet Anderson campaigned to have put on the statute books.

After the case, Mrs Anderson said she had been willing to be called as a witness.

She said: "I campaigned for a long time for this law. The fact it is being successfully used by the courts confirms what local police have been telling me, that it is working to stop the misery caused to women by persistent stalkers.

"I hope Janet now finds her life enhanced. Mr Hosey should be in no doubt that he will be straight back in court if he does not abide by the conditions."

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