Stalker returned to prison after threatening woman online

A stalker has been sent back to prison after threatening a woman online who had an existing restraining order against him.

Robert Carlin had already been jailed more than once for continuously harassing his victim.

The 43-year-old re-started his personal attacks on the woman – just weeks after being released from a 14-month sentence for stalking her.

Between 9 January and 18 March of this year, Carlin repeatedly flouted rules that banned him from trying to contact his long-term victim in any way.

After uploading several photos of the woman on an anonymous Facebook account he’d set up, he wrote a series of disparaging comments about her too.

Not content with this, he then contacted her directly on Instagram – again using a fake account – to let her know someone had been posting about her on social media.

More negative posts and photos of the woman continued to be posted on the Facebook page in the weeks that followed, accompanied by messages that became more threatening.

Her address was also made public, while the anonymous account run by Carlin warned “I know where you live and I’ll be seeing you face to face soon”.

A further comment added “once I’ve done with you, that face will need a plastic bag to cover it”.

The police were then alerted, who investigated the social media accounts and found both had been set up by email addresses registered to Carlin, of Wharmby Avenue, Mansfield.

His stream of threatening online messages amounted to stalking, while his campaign of harassment also breached an existing indefinite restraining order the woman had against him.

Carlin pleaded guilty to stalking involving fear of violence and breaching a restraining order through harassment, when he appeared at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court on 27 July.

On Thursday (10 October), he attended Nottingham Crown Court, where he was sentenced to 18 months in prison.

PC Charlotte Kieme, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “Robert Carlin went out of his way to try and make his victim’s life a misery by making threatening and disparaging comments online.

“He made not one but two fake accounts on separate social media platforms – one to say all the hurtful things he said and the other to contact the woman directly and try and rub her nose in it. 

“His obsessive behaviour completely crossed the line, with the threats he made towards the woman being particularly unpleasant and ensuring his actions amounted to stalking.

“Carlin will have been thoroughly aware of the pain his words would cause and that contacting his victim in the way he did would breach a restraining order, but he went ahead and did it anyway.

“We’re pleased to see he’s now been returned to prison, where he belongs.”

PC Kieme added: “This is an example of the different forms stalking can take – it isn’t just limited to physically following someone – with this level of harassment really impacting people’s lives.

“It is really important that all victims of stalking know we are here to help them and that they can contact us at any time to report an offence against them or someone they know.

“If this is you, please call us via 101, or 999 in an emergency, so that we can act.”

For more advice and information, including how to report stalking and harassment, visit: Stalking and harassment | Nottinghamshire Police