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8th May 2023
03:21pm BST
A woman who stalked a bus driver by waiting at stops and following him around his route has been jailed just days after her release - for breaching a restraining order.
Charlie Howells has repeatedly been before the courts since 2014 for stalking bus driver Imre Marton and harassing his boss Louise Rouse.
The 29-year-old would lie in wait at bus stops around Oxfordshire for up to eight hours, take his photo and bombard him with messages.
Howells took advantage of her free concessionary pass to travel around Oxfordshire in order to reach bus stops on routes that were being driven by him.
She started stalking her victim in 2012 and persistently ignored a restraining order not to contact him or board any bus being driven by him. She also sent him more than 500 Facebook messages from various fake accounts.
Marton went on BBC documentary 'My Stalker and Me' in 2017, telling producers that he was concerned for his life and wore a stab-proof vest.
On Thursday, Oxford Crown Court heard within a few days of being released from a two-year prison sentence imposed in 2021, she was at it again.
She messaged Oxford Bus Company boss Louise Rouse in breach of court orders banning her from doing so.
Appearing before Recorder Alexander McGregor via video link from women’s prison HMP Eastwood Park, Howells, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to breaching an interim stalking protection order made by Oxford Magistrates Court on March 15 – just 17 days before she breached it by sending Rouse messages on social media.
Howells also pleaded guilty at the lower court to breaching a separate restraining order.
Defending, Gareth James asked the judge to press ahead with sentencing his client immediately.
“Ms Howells is anxious to know her fate. She does have a long and complicated history, starting in 2014 with a conviction for harassment for which a restraining order was made,” he said.
Between 2015 and 2021, his client had clocked up 12 convictions for breaching various restraining orders.
James told the court: “Every conviction on her record is connected to this case.”
Having been sentenced to two years’ imprisonment in 2021, she was released on licence last year – but was recalled to prison for reasons not given at Thursday's hearing.
“She’d served effectively the full two-year sentence from 2021 to her release in March,” her advocate said.
After hearing from prosecutor Christopher Hewertson, who asked for the matter to be adjourned so he could digest the lengthy history, Recorder McGregor put sentencing back to June 15.
The judge said: “Whilst I understand Mr James’ submission and the desire of the defendant to have this matter disposed of as soon as possible, I don’t consider that adequate information is before the court today to enable me to proceed to sentence.”
In August 2014, Howells was slapped with a two-year restraining order preventing her from contacting Marton in any way. She was also jailed for two years in 2016 after she admitted harassment and breaching a restraining order.
