Suspended sentence for man who assaulted his ex-girlfriend

Christopher Searle, 34, continued to follow and contact the woman despite being served a non-molestation order.

On 6 January, the victim, who is in her 20s, was taking her children to school and walking along Broadway, Yaxley, when Searle approached them.

A conversation between the pair became heated and Searle began shouting verbal abuse towards the victim.

When she tried to walk away, he ran and jumped over a wooden fence and attempted to grab one of the children, before swinging his arms and hitting the victim on the back of the neck and trying to drag her to the ground.

The woman managed to escape and contacted police inside the school premises.

On 13 January, a non-molestation order was handed to Searle which stipulated that he must not intimidate, harass or pester the victim or attempt to enter the school premises.

However, just two weeks after the order was imposed, Searle parked his car up near their children’s school and waited until he saw the victim drive past on her way home from work.

Once the victim got home, she saw Searle’s van drive past her house in Yaxley and park up just a few doors down.

Feeling threatened by this, the victim left her house and attempted to cross the road to see her mother who lived on the opposite side of the street.

However, whilst crossing the road, Searle drove towards her causing her to freeze in panic. He slammed his brakes on, rolled down the window and shouted at her before driving off.

Two days later, on 29 January, when the victim parked in Broadway to drop her children at school, she noticed Searle’s van parked close by. He once more made attempts to speak to the woman and the children, causing the victim to feel threatened.

She rang police once she got inside the school and whilst still on the phone to call handlers, she saw Searle’s car drive off.

Believing he had gone, she began driving to work in Hampton when she again saw Searle parked up further down the road.

As soon as the victim drove past, he immediately began driving behind her and pulled up next to her at the crossroads near the junction with London Road, and made rude gestures towards her.

Searle, of Old End Walk, Yaxley, was arrested on 29 January and was found guilty of breach of a non-molestation order and assault by beating.

At Cambridge Crown Court on Tuesday (2 June), Searle was sentenced to six months in prison, suspended for 18 months, and ordered to complete 100 hours of unpaid work.

PC Holly Edwards said: “Searle was well aware of the conditions imposed upon him, but chose to ignore the restrictions on a number of occasions.

“His intimidating actions caused the victim to suffer a great deal of stress. We will continue to do all that we can to put offenders before the courts.”