Aisha* was stalked by a male colleague, he would repeatedly turn up outside her home address and on her route to work, watch her balcony, follow her on buses and send her unwanted e-mails and gifts. He was prosecuted for harassment and pleaded guilty in the Magistrates Court.
However, at the sentencing hearing no request was made for a Restraining Order, as the police officer had forgotten to include it in the paperwork and the prosecutor also overlooked it. Aisha was not at court for the sentencing and was told almost two weeks later that there was no Restraining Order in place.
Centre for Women’s Justice (CWJ) drafted a letter for Aisha to give to the prosecution requesting a late application for a Restraining Order, relying on a power that is not often used in the Magistrates Court to re-open a case to correct a mistake. She attended the Magistrates Court with the letter, but the court staff refused to take it. It was not until she insisted she would not leave the building and started to cry that they finally agreed to give the letter to a prosecutor. She was told the case would be listed in court two days’ later.
When Aisha attended court a prosecutor initially told her the case was finished and he was not planning to make a further application for a Restraining Order. It was only on her insistence that the case had been listed that the prosecutor finally read her letter and agreed to make the application.
In court, the Magistrates Clerk advised the Magistrate they did not have the power to re-open the case, despite the legal points put forward in the letter and by the prosecutor. However, the Magistrate granted a Restraining Order and the perpetrator is not allowed to have any direct contact with Aisha or to enter her street for three years. Breach of this order would be a criminal offence and he could be arrested.
*not her real name
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