A HARASSER has avoided being sent to prison for verbally abusing two people.

Dominic Tilley was told by the courts that his actions over a period of months towards the man and woman in Northwich constituted as harassment.

The 46-year-old was informed that the offence was so serious that it merited a custodial sentence.

But his mitigation meant that magistrates felt able to suspend the prison sentence.

Tilley appeared to be sentenced at Chester Magistrates’ Court on August 10 after pleading guilty to a charge of harassment.

Andrew Sinker, prosecuting, explained how the charge spans a period of just less than two months in the Northwich area.

This involved the defendant pursuing a course of conduct which amounted to harassment by subjecting both victims to verbal abuse on a number of occasions, although no violence was used.

Magistrates remarked that only a custodial sentence could be justified due to the offence being ‘so serious’ and occurring in public while children were present.

However, taking the defendant’s guilty plea into account, they said they could suspend the prison term because he has now moved away and has demonstrated a ‘real prospect for rehabilitation’.

Tilley, now of The Cross in Lymm, was sentenced to 12 weeks in prison suspended for 18 months.

He must also pay £200 in compensation to each victim, £85 in costs to the Crown Prosecution Service and a £128 surcharge to fund victim services.

The defendant was also made the subject of restraining orders prohibiting him from contacting his two victims by any means whatsoever, or entering a named Northwich street, for three years.