1 day Ago By David Love
The end of a seven-month relationship sparked a sinister 10-week campaign of stalking by a spurned boyfriend. Mark Curtis, from Fort William, learned of the break-up on June 30 last year but refused to accept it was over and started harassing his ex the very next day. Curtis, 30, turned up at the woman’s home and was told by her parents that he was not welcome.
However the following day he secretly placed his van keys under a stone at the back door as an excuse to speak to her about retrieving them, scaring her even further. He followed that with numerous phone calls from unknown numbers to the woman and her mother at their home and place of work. Late night unwanted visits Emails expressing the scaffolder’s love for his ex were also sent, he was seen in her street and once appeared at her door with a shinty stick before repeatedly banging on the window for around two minutes.
His uninvited behaviour continued with Curtis frequently turning up at her door and garden, including late at night when he was seen wearing a black hoodie. The woman contacted the police, the court was told, and Curtis was traced and arrested. He appeared at Inverness Sheriff Court on July 24 2023 and was bailed with a special condition not to contact the woman.
But Curtis persisted with further calls and messages using No Caller ID or an assumed name. ‘It’s a set-up’ Sheriff Sara Matheson was told this further alarmed the woman, who showed the messages to her mother, who again informed the police. Curtis, of Kennedy Road, was arrested on September 12 and he claimed to police: “It’s a set-up.
” He previously admitted a charge of stalking at Inverness Sheriff Court and a breach of bail and a background report was called for. Social workers recommended a community payback order with unpaid work and Sheriff Matheson sentenced him to carry out 210 hours. She also imposed a two-year-long non-harassment order.
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