A truck driver has been jailed for stalking a woman he met on a dating site, racking up his fourth restraining order.
Jonathan Edwards-Hughes even called Carla Cox from behind bars last week, after he’d been remanded ahead of being sentenced for harassing her.
Miss Cox, who burst into tears when she heard Edwards-Hughes say “Do you know where I am? I’m in prison”, told police: “I can’t believe that even when he is in prison he is still contacting me.”
Today, at Llandudno magistrates court, 36-year-old Edwards was jailed for 16 weeks.
The court heard the relationship began in April, 2016, after Edwards-Hughes met Miss Cox through a dating website.
But after 10 weeks Edwards-Hughes started becoming aggressive, accusing her of cheating in him.
Miss Cox ended the relationship after four months but he kept pressurizing her, so on June 23 this year she reported him to the police. On June 29 he called her 49 times and sent her 56 texts .
Despite her protestations he bombarded her with calls and texts, left balloons and flowers on her car, and waited for her to finish work at a hairdresser’s in Russell Road, Rhyl .
Mr Neary said that to escape from him she went to stray with her sister in Kinmel Bay , but Edwards-Hughes was spotted driving up and down outside the house.
On July 9 the defendant’s mother contacted Miss Cox to apologise for his behaviour and said he had never been happier than when he was with her – but Mr Neary told the court that she had done the same thing in relation to his previous victims.
In one call Edwards-Hughes, an HGV driver, of Liddell Drive, Llandudno , suggested he would kill himself, and told Miss Cox: “Tell Mum and Dad I love them” – just as he had told previous victims.
In an impact statement Miss Cox, who had met him secretly on occasions because she knew that her family hated him, said: “His behaviour has become unbearable.”
She said she was shocked to learn from the police about his previous convictions – and as she left the police station Edwards-Hughes was waiting outside for her.
Mr Neary said that on his release from prison he had been ordered not to enter a romantic relationship within eight weeks, but he had done so within a week.
“There are currently three other victims being protected by the courts through restraining orders,” he said.
The court was told that Edwards-Hughes had been complying with community punishments but chairman Sandra Ogden-Jones said that only a custodial sentence was justified.
Edwards-Hughes was jailed for 16 weeks and ordered to pay Miss Cox compensation of 500 pounds. He must also pay costs of 85 pounds and a surcharge of 115 pounds.
The Bench also imposed a restraining order prohibiting him from contacting Miss Cox, entering Russell Road, Rhyl, or the Kinmel Bay road where her sister lives.
