Six years in prison for man who continued to stalk woman upon release from prison

A man has been jailed for six years after he continued stalking and harassing his ex-partner upon his release from prison.

Christopher Fisher, of no fixed address, breached his 10-year restraining order to set up numerous Instagram accounts to send threatening and abusive messages to the woman.

In some of the messages the 30-year-old told her ‘I wish you were dead’ and ‘I hope it bears too much for you and you decide to end things.’

Fisher pleaded guilty to stalking causing serious harm and breaching a restraining order.

He was sentenced to six years in prison on Friday 10 June at Chester Crown Court and received an indefinite restraining order.

The court heard how in 2020 Fisher was sentenced to 16-months for stalking with a fear of violence against the 26-year-old woman.

In February 2021 he was released from prison and began uploading abusive posts on Instagram that were aimed at the victim.

The woman’s friend saw the posts, which made her concerned for the victim’s safety, and made her aware of them.

Within a month Fisher began sending the victim direct messages via several Instagram accounts using different names. 

The messages continued until April 2021 when Fisher was arrested and taken into custody and answered no comment to all questions put to him.

During the investigation police seized Fisher’s phone and found searches for the victim along with screenshots and stalking websites.

On sentencing Fisher Judge Simon Berkson called him a ‘dangerous’ offender.

Detective Sergeant Kevin Green, of Ellesmere Port local policing unit, said: “Fisher’s actions and behaviour greatly impacted the victim the first time he was sentenced. He then chose to torment her again upon his release from prison despite the restraining order placed on him.

“Understandably it left her feeling considerably distressed and brought back her fears and anxiety.

“She contacted the police and Fisher was remanded preventing his behaviour from escalating.

“While we would never have wanted her to be put in this position again, he has been handed a more severe sentence along with the restraining order increasing indefinitely, and I hope this enables her to start to feel safe again.”