Pictured: Businessman Matthew Eckersley, 45, has been convicted of harassment
A managing director left with £200,000 in legal fees following a bitter divorce has been convicted of harassment for sending his ex-wife emails about household bills.
Matthew Eckersley, 45, wrote to his former spouse Zoe to discuss meter readings, car insurance and maintenance.
After being left financially bereft from £300 legal advice over a two-year period, the father-of-two claimed it was easier to get in touch via email.
One note relating to maintenance read: ‘Hi Zoe apologies for this I’ve just seen it and have made payments. Thanks Matthew’.
But the police were called in after Mrs Eckersley said her husband’s memos were proof he was ‘reluctant to let her go’.
A second message, heard in court, had the subject line ‘Car Insurance’ and read: ‘Hello Zoe, your car has been insured with Esure – I will send it over on receipt. Thanks, Matthew.’
A third added: ‘Please can you take a picture of gas and electric meters and email them over? Thanks, Matthew’.
Mrs Eckersley said the two sides had agreed to contact only through lawyers following bitter rows over their living arrangements in which he had vowed to ‘crush her.’
Pictured: Zoe Eckersley alleged her former spouse had hired a private investigator to follow her movements
And she alleged Eckersley hired a private investigator to stake out their £600,000 family home in Knutsford, Cheshire to record when she came and left.
Mrs Eckersley who is currently dating another man told a court: ‘I have not blown this out of proportion. I was bombarded with emails about various things that should have gone through solicitors such as the maintenance and they were saying ‘I forgot’.
‘It’s not that they said ‘I’m coming to shoot you’ – but every time I saw his message it would really shake me up. I would get a message on my birthday saying: ‘I’m here constantly around watching you.’ Just seeing his name was enough’.
At Stockport magistrates court, Eckersley who is managing director of a property investment company was found guilty of harassment without violence following a trial and was ordered to pay a total of £1,500 – including £100 compensation to his wife.
Pictured: Mrs Eckersley’s new partner John, above, accompanied her to court in her case against ex-husband Matthew
The court heard the couple had been childhood sweethearts having met at school when they were 14. They married in 2005 but split up in August 2015 and Eckersley moved out of the family home and the two sides instructed divorce lawyers.
Giving evidence behind screens Mrs Eckersley who attended the hearing with her partner John Wilson, 59, said: ‘We started mediation but it was not successful and by March 2017 Matthew had received a letter from my solicitor telling him not to contact me other than through solicitors
‘I was to have no contact but the landline kept ringing several times. When I did 1471 it was his number.’
The court heard the couple had been childhood sweethearts having met at school when they were 14
Police warned Eckersley not to contact his estranged wife in August 2017 but she added. ‘By the end of September there were so many emails relating to things like meter readings, maintenance and my partner, it made me feel like I was being watched. One quoted when I left the house and how long for – it was like I had an electronic tag on me and he knew when I left.
‘I blocked him on Facebook Messenger but he still got through. It was then sent on email to make sure I got it. It made me feel physically sick. It’s so hard to put into words how I feel it’s been going on for three years. I don’t like receiving any contact it’s going against everything I’ve asked for. It’s not respecting my wishes.’
Asked about the emails Mrs Eckersley said: ‘This is Matthew’s reluctance to let go of me. I’ve always asked to give the meter readings myself but he just wants to hang on to control as much as possible.
Eckersley was fined £750 and was ordered to pay costs and surcharges of £695
‘This email along with all the other ones is further evidence he will not abide by what he’s told. The car insurance documents could have just been posted to me via Royal Mail. He should have just paid the maintenance on time and their would be no need for contact. Money seems to be no object for Matthew there’s always money for Matthew to do what he wants.
‘My solicitor continued to send him letters telling him to stop but every time I sent a letter it cost me money. Every time my solicitor sent a letter or we have a telephone call it cost around £200 an hour.
‘It upsets me, causes me stress. I don’t sleep, I have nightmares about people coming to the house. I didn’t respond to any of the emails or ring or text. I am engaged in a bitter divorce and he has made horrendous comments about me, that he wants to crush me.
‘Every time his name flashes up my heart races and I have flashbacks to all the times he has terrorised me. I’m still being terrorised and watched and pursued.
‘I’m not paranoid. A private detective was sat outside my house for two weeks. I have text messages, this is my life and it’s not pleasant.
‘It worried me immensely that I was being watched by a private detective. Being watched constantly is stalking and harassment. Knowing that every move is being watched, everywhere I go I’m watched and monitored, that’s not right. I’ve done nothing wrong I should not be watched all the time. I’m not a criminal.’
Eckersley denied wrongding and told JPs: ‘I don’t consider I was aggressive or abusive – I have never used physical violence and have never been aggressive towards my wife.
Every time his name flashes up my heart races and I have flashbacks to all the times he has terrorised me
‘My understanding was that anything relating to the divorce should go through the lawyers – but on mundane things I couldn’t really understand how I could create myself or Zoe another bill of £300 to go back and forth between the lawyers.
‘We are going to go well over £200,000 because of ridiculous things that keep happening and I just can’t afford it. There’s no need to go to the solicitor to get a meter reading for gas or electric. Even with the car insurance it’s a ludicrous and silly thing to have to go through lawyers.
‘It’s not affordable. It’s going to ruin us, it’s very upsetting and it’s costing a fortune. Zoe’s partner has been cohabiting with her for some time, my solicitor said I must be able to prove that and they suggested some private investigators. That’s what we did and it was found to be true.
‘We had written to Zoe’s solicitors to get an understanding of how many nights a week he was staying over the response was two nights on some occasions but it was proved that he was living there. I’ve never loitered outside it’s always been done by professionals.’
‘I can’t really see how my emails are harassing or threatening in any way. I was just trying to deal with something sensibly and fairly without even more cost. It just seemed the only reasonable way to communicate.
‘The motive was never to harass it was to solve minor issues that don’t need to cost more than it should do. Something like the divorce proceedings must go through the solicitor but day to day information should be between us both. I just want this divorce to be over as soon as it can. It’s going on for too long and the bills are getting ridiculous.
‘I think the solicitors are comfortable in taking instructions because it takes more money out of the divorce pot.’
Sentencing JP Pauline McArdle told Eckersley: ‘We found Mrs Eckersley’s evidence credible and consistent and found yourself to be unconvincing. You ought to have known that your contact amounted to the harassment of Mrs Eckersley.’
Eckersley was fined £750 and was ordered to pay costs and surcharges of £695. He was also banned from contacting his wife for 18 months under the terms of a restraining order.