Stalker spied on one woman from bushes and bombarded another with calls and texts

A stalker hid in a bush outside one woman’s house to spy on her while harassing another with hundreds of calls and texts.

Adrian Lynch targeted his two victims throughout last August after becoming infatuated with both women – who he knew from years earlier.

One of the women was suddenly bombarded with around 450 unwanted phone calls and text messages after Lynch tricked a relative into giving him her number.

Despite not speaking to the woman for nearly 20 years beforehand, he ignored her requests to stop – instead sending a stream of inappropriate messages that left her fearing for her safety.

Around the same time this was happening, he was also bothering a different woman, who he again had been an acquaintance of several years back.

Lynch subjected her to a string of unwanted contact – from regularly banging on her door in the middle of the night, to ranting and shouting at her from the street.

He was also caught staring at her through a set of binoculars and on one occasion was spotted hiding in the bushes in her next door neighbour's garden.

Lynch was connected to both offences when they were reported to police, with the 47-year-old assaulting an officer and subjecting others in attendance to vitriol when he was arrested on 29 August.

He later pleaded guilty to separate charges of stalking involving serious alarm/distress, harassment to put someone in fear of violence, assaulting an emergency worker, and a public order offence.  

Lynch, of Corsham Gardens, Carlton, appeared at Nottingham Crown Court on Tuesday (14 January), where he received a 20-month prison sentence.

He was also made subject to separate restraining orders banning him from contacting either women in any way. Both orders will last until the court orders otherwise.

PC Hannah Lees, of Nottinghamshire Police, said:

“Lynch left both his victims fearing for their safety by subjecting them to sustained periods of unwanted contact.

“One woman was harassed to such an extent that she was bombarded with around 450 calls and text messages from him, before managing to make it stop after blocking his number.

“Another was left fearing that Lynch was always watching her, after he was spotted spying on her through binoculars and caught hiding in a bush near her house.

“Nobody has the right to be made to feel how these two women felt at the hands of Lynch, who has rightly now been sent to prison and banned from contacting either of them again.”

Detective Chief Inspector Nick Wood, Nottinghamshire Police's strategic lead for stalking, added:

"This result shows our commitment to dealing with stalking and I thank DC Lees and her team for their commitment to this case.

"Stalking is an incredibly impactive crime and we stand ready to support victims."

For more advice around stalking and harassment, please visit: Stalking and harassment | Nottinghamshire Police