Female stalker, 44, who bugged her ex-boyfriend’s car and redirected his mail in bid to ‘expose’ him as a ‘benefits cheat’ and get extra child support from him faces jail

A stalker who tapped her ex-boyfriend’s car, forwarded his mail and portrayed him as a benefits fraudster to get extra child support for their 12-year-old daughter is facing jail time.

Veronica Jackson told Kevin McCormack, “I know where you are – I know what you’re doing,” in a series of messages during her stalking campaign.

The 44-year-old hoarded and opened her victim’s letters in a bid to prove he was claiming benefits while in a job and force him to contribute £200 a month in child support, a court heard.

When Mr McCormack found work at a nightclub, she called his new boss anonymously and falsely claimed that police were investigating him for fraud.

Jackson, from Henbury, Cheshire, now faces jail after being convicted of stalking and delaying the mail.

Warrington Magistrates’ Court heard how the couple had a daughter in 2012 but split eight years after their relationship ended. The father said he had ‘agreed an amount’ with the Child Support Agency (CSA) but Jackson demanded more and the situation had become a ‘stalemate’.

While unemployed, Mr McCormack – who claimed he could only provide £6.25 a week to support their child – then received a series of messages from his ex-girlfriend detailing the routes he had taken to and from his home and the times of his work. the journeys.

Texts from Jackson read: ‘I have enough evidence to have you prosecuted for benefits fraud. Photo login all kinds. So we can settle this between ourselves, or I’ll take the official route. Are you going to talk to Kevin? I want you to pay for our daughter like you should. You have made a very serious mistake in recent months.”

Private letters forwarded to Jackson also revealed that McCormack was in danger of losing his rental apartment. The stalker also contacted his employer asking for confidential information when he eventually got a job at the nightclub.

Mr McCormack contacted the Royal Mail to ask why he was no longer receiving letters. He was given a forwarding address, which he visited and found the stalker’s car parked outside.

Jackson, who runs a hair extension business, was eventually turned in by police and when officers arrested her, they found a bag of mail at her home containing letters addressed to him that had been opened.

The victim said that after he blocked Jackson on WhatsApp, he found a bag of flour over his car the next day.

Mr McCormack told the court: ‘One morning I had an appointment with a friend in Bolton and Veronica sent me a message with a photo of my car and a photo from some sort of app.

‘It said what time I left, what route I took, where I ended up, and she accused me of working, not paying enough and all that. I wasn’t working at the time.

‘I felt scared and nervous and felt like I was being harassed. It was non-stop messaging.

‘It was obvious that I was getting nervous about following. I didn’t know what to do.

‘I couldn’t move without her knowing where I was and sending them messages. I looked out the window the whole time. Would something come through my door? It was stressful.’

He added: ‘I told Veronica that the CSA was working on it and that she should leave me alone. I said, ‘We can work this out, stop harassing me. Stop stalking me and making my life so that I can’t go anywhere. Leave me alone. Let’s get on with our lives. Let’s get things right for our daughter.’ But she kept texting me.

‘I was renting an apartment at the time and got a message from the landlord saying he was selling it. Then I got a message from Veronica saying, ‘Haha, I’m so sorry you’re homeless. You deserve this. You’re being evicted.’

‘I was surprised she knew this information. Only the landlord and the real estate agent who dealt with it knew about it.

‘I hadn’t received any mail for two or three weeks and I thought that was a bit strange. So I went to the post office to make inquiries. There they said that my mail had been forwarded to this address.

‘I went to the address and Veronica’s car was in the driveway. That’s why she knew about the personal things. Whatever post went, she clearly found it. She discovered my home situation.

‘I blocked her on WhatsApp because she sent me threatening messages on Tuesday evening.

“On Wednesday morning I woke up and my car was covered in white flour. It took three days to get it off.”

In her evidence, Jackson claimed her ex-boyfriend had worked as a construction site manager while she was claiming benefits, adding: ‘During a phone conversation I had with the CSA, they asked me if I could find out where he worked and I said, ‘Leave it with me.’

‘He said he was on benefits but we were gathering information that he was working, which would have changed the payments from £6.25 a week to £50 a week, which is what I asked for.

‘[The CSA] asked if I could get a bank statement or a pay stub to prove he was working. So I forwarded his mail.’

When asked if she felt placing the tracker on his vehicle was stalking, Jackson said, “There was no contact with Kevin, he wouldn’t talk to me and he kept putting the phone down at the CSA.

‘I tried to get him to pay for my daughter. I am a single mother with a 12 year old child and her father pays nothing at all. I didn’t know how else to do it.’

Prosecutor Vincent Yip said: ‘There is simply no excuse for what she did. He was afraid.

“He didn’t know what was going to happen. Following someone, their location, diverting their mail without permission, calling their place of work, making inquiries, a reasonable person would consider that stalking and unreasonable in any given circumstance.”

But barrister Lionel Greig said: ‘She sought to prove he was working and she and her daughter are entitled to appropriate, properly calculated benefits.

‘She can seek legal advice, but there are costs involved, which are significant in family matters. There is an option to hire a private detective, but that costs a lot of money: the suspect simply did not have the resources for that.’

“She just wanted to show that he worked and had financial responsibilities to his daughter.”

At Jackson’s sentencing, JP Robin Bradshaw told her: ‘You admitted placing the tracker, forwarding and opening mail and contacting his workplace.

‘While we understand the situation you are in, we deny that your actions were reasonable under the circumstances because other evidence is so compelling.

“You should have known that your behavior would amount to stalking.”