A jilted bride-to-be has been fined for bombarding her ex-fiance with messages, emails and text messages accusing him of sleeping with other women after they broke up.
Adele Layman, 32, repeatedly texted and called warehouse manager Jamie McDougall over a period of 13 days after their split.
One of her messages read: “I hope you have a great time leaving us,” while another said: “This guy is messaging me saying you’re sleeping with Caz and you’re laughing at me . I knew I was right all along.’
McDougall, who was planning a dream trip to Vietnam at the time, insisted he had not slept with anyone.
But the mother-of-two, from Rudheath, Northwich, emailed him and said: ‘Have fun finding a chic, sassy eye to wear my ring. Enjoy your dirty, filthy b****es there.”
Police were later called and when questioned, the former care assistant admitted she had been ’emotional and jealous’ following the break-up of the couple’s four-year romance.
According to Facebook, the couple announced their engagement on Christmas Eve 2019.
At Warrington Magistrates Court, Layman pleaded guilty to harassment without violence and was also ordered to pay £117 in costs and victim surcharge.
Adele Layman, 32, (pictured) repeatedly texted and called warehouse manager Jamie McDougall over a 13-day period after their break-up
McDougall, (pictured), who was planning a dream trip to Vietnam at the time, insisted he had not slept with anyone
JPs rejected a prosecution request for a restraining order against her after learning she was already subject to a non-abuse order imposed by a family court.
Nicola Parr, prosecuting, said: “The complainant has made a statement. He was with the suspect for four years. He described the relationship as very up and down depending on the suspect’s mood.
‘The relationship ended around August 2023 and he subsequently received numerous emails, phone calls and messages from the suspect.
On November 24, the complainant received an email stating: ‘This man messages me saying you are sleeping with Caz and you are laughing at me. I knew I was right all along.’ The complainant said he had not slept with anyone and told her she had no reason to contact him.
‘Later that evening, further emails arrived from the defendant. “Have fun finding a slut with a sassy eye to wear my ring. Then you want things to go well [our daughter] when you say things like that. Enjoy you dirty filthy bitches out there.”
‘Mr McDougall had made a personal joke on Facebook about an upcoming trip to Vietnam and he believed the defendant was looking at his Facebook profile, despite being blocked from the account.
‘On November 30, the complainant received a WhatsApp message: ‘I hope you have fun finding your little bastards.’ He ignored the message.
‘On December 1, there were several other messages, including ‘I hope you enjoy leaving us’, and another message on WhatsApp with a photo of his daughter that he had posted on Facebook.
When questioned, the former care assistant admitted she had been ’emotional and jealous’ following the break-up of the couple’s four-year romance. Pictured: Adele Layman
At Warrington Magistrates Court, Layman pleaded guilty to harassment without violence and was also ordered to pay £117 in costs and victim surcharge.
‘The complainant immediately deleted the messages. On December 2, he again received messages referring to a relationship she thought he was in, while he said he was not. From 12.20am to 2am there were five missed calls from a hidden number and then another three missed calls. Then on December 3 there was another message on WhatsApp and another four missed calls to which he did not answer.
‘The suspect has no previous convictions. She has a good character. As far as the sentencing guidelines are concerned, the crime is aggravated because it is domestic in nature, but it is at the lowest category level.”
In mitigation, the layman’s barrister, Richard Sibeon, said: ‘This was a period of conduct between November 23 and December 5, a relatively short period, just over a fortnight. It was the end of a relationship and the end of relationships brings human emotions, bitterness, jealousy, anger and frustration. That’s actually the nature of the contact here.
According to Facebook, the couple announced their engagement on Christmas Eve 2019
‘She has a two-year-old daughter with this young man and that relationship has ended. She accepts that she contacted him when he did not want that contact, and did so at a level that went beyond what it should be.
‘It was relatively childish, silly and offensive, but not of the more serious kind we see in court. There was no evidence of threats. She has lost her good character because of her guilty plea. She lives on her own and has two children. She has a seven-year-old child from a previous relationship.
‘I did ask why the police did not deal with this as a warning, but they wanted the matter to be dealt with today. She now has a criminal record. She knows that she can seek help if she has a problem and that she has the support of her mother. But she accepts that the relationship is over. An application for a restraining order on this occasion is neither necessary nor proportionate.’
Sentencing Layman JP Alan Ayers said: ‘We have heard everything that happened. We understand that this meant the end of a relationship and we believe that your lawyer has expressed the matter succinctly. We feel like this is on the lower end of the scale and that’s how we’re going to treat it.
“We believe that the non-abuse order is sufficient and we do not want to overcomplicate matters. We want to give the family court judge discretion to do what he wants to do, in the best interests of the children.”