A MAN who subjected a senior housing official at South Somerset District Council to a torrent of verbal abuse and threats has been found guilty of an offence of harassment.

Nicki Lee Maynard-Hughes bombarded Barbie Markey with around 100 “vicious” phone calls and messages over a housing issue leaving her emotionally distressed and forced to install CCTV at her home.

He accused her of breaching data protection regulations and gross negligence and said he had contacted Yeovil MP Marcus Fysh in London about the situation.

He also claimed The Guardian newspaper was interested in his case and would be publishing a story about her.

Recordings of the messages were played to Somerset Magistrates where the defendant made direct threats towards the victim.

One said: “You have made it personal by contacting my family members. I am going to make contact with your family members and make this personal. Do you understand me now?”

In other voicemail messages he said: “I know your f***ing personal life. I know where you live. Everything”.

He also said: “I’m going to stick my nose into your life and ruin you and your colleagues. It’s not a threat, it’s a f***ing promise”.

The 32-year-old defendant, formerly of Dwelly Close, Chard but currently living in Monmouth Street, Bridgwater, pleaded not guilty that between May 1 and November 23, 2018 at Yeovil he pursued a course of conduct which amounted to the harassment of Ms Markey in that he made various calls and messages of an offensive nature.

The case had been adjourned for him to stand trial before the court at Yeovil but on the day of the hearing he failed to turn up and was convicted of the offence in his absence.

Prosecutor Suzie Butler said that Maynard-Hughes had ongoing housing issues with South Somerset District Council for over a year and in a gesture of goodwill the council assisted him to move to County Durham.

However the defendant claimed that some of his personal belongings had been lost in the move and spoke with Ms Markey on around 100 occasions between 2017 and 2018.

“The nature of the contact was so extreme that the council banned him from calling to protect their staff but the defendant continued to say they had breached data protection laws,” she said.

“He also contacted Yeovil MP Marcus Fysh’s office about the council and Ms Markey and police advice was then given to him in November last year where he was told not to use any further threatening or harassing words or he could face prosecution.

“However the defendant contacted the council again and left messages on the victim’s email account saying he would act on the threats he had made previously.”

Giving evidence to the court, Ms Markey said the contact from Maynard-Hughes had left her feeling distressed and worried about her own safety and that of her family, especially when he said he knew where she lived.

“I was scared and had to have blinds fitted to my widows and was concerned about noises I heard in the vicinity as I was worried that it might be him somewhere,” she said.

“I used to walk to my grandchildren's house but don’t do that anymore as I was worried abut him hiding in the dark.

“The council fitted CCTV at my property and I became a little reclusive and watched the CCTV all the time. It did knock my confidence.”

She said she had never encountered such extreme behaviour during her job with the council saying it was the fact that the defendant made it very personal that was worrying.

“People complain quite often but he began to say things about my family and my home and his tone began to get very irrational,” she said.

“The way he was saying things was quite vicious and was very threatening and menacing, and after the police warned him he phoned back and said that if I went to the police again he was going to ‘put this all in action’.

“I felt he thought he was above the law and did not know what was going to be able to stop him.”

Miss Butler said that Maynard-Hughes was arrested by the police and interviewed at Bridgwater police station where he confirmed leaving the voicemails and contacting the complainant about 100 times.

He said he could understand how it could be seen as harassment but did not mean it in that way. He also admitted contacting Marcus Fysh’s office in London.

After hearing the prosecution evidence the magistrates found the case against the defendant had been proven and found him guilty of harassment.

They issued a warrant for his arrest without bail so he can be brought before the court at the earliest possible opportunity to be sentenced.