A female stalker who bugged her ex-boyfriend’s car, redirected his mail and accused him of being a benefits cheat in a bid to get extra child support, has avoided prison.
Veronica Jackson, 44, placed a tracker on the vehicle of absentee father Kevin McCormack and diverted his letters to a drop-off location in a bid to prove to Child Maintenance Service he had a job and could afford maintenance of £200 a month.
Mr McCormack claimed he was jobless and only able to give £6.25 a week to help with the upkeep of the couple’s 12-year-old daughter.
The pair started a relationship in 2010 and had a daughter together in 2012, but split up eight years later.
At Chester Magistrates Court, Jackson faced six months jail after she was convicted of stalking and a charge of delaying mail following a trial.
But the single mother was spared jail term after a judge told her ‘it is you and your daughter who have been wronged’ by McCormack ‘not pulling his weight’.
Instead, Jackson was given a 12-month community order with requirements to complete 20 days of rehabilitation activity and 100 hours of unpaid work.
Veronica Jackson, 44, placed a tracker on the vehicle of absentee father Kevin McCormack and diverted his letters to a drop-off location in a bid to prove to Child Maintenance Service he had a job and could afford maintenance of £200 a month
Veronica and Kevin (pictured) started a relationship in 2010 and had a daughter together in 2012, but split up eight years later
Mr McCormack (left) claimed he was jobless and only able to give £6.25 a week to help with the upkeep of the couple’s 12-year-old daughter. Pictured: Veronica and Kevin when they were in a relationship
Veronica Jackson (pictured) outside Warrington Magistrates Court
Warrington Magistrates Court previously heard how McCormack received a series of messages from Jackson.
The messages showed routes he had taken to and from his home, as well as the times of the journeys plus messages from her saying: ‘I know where you are – I know what you are doing.’
Other texts read: ‘I have enough evidence to have you done for benefit fraud. Picture log ins all sorts. So we can sort this out between us or I will take the official route, are you going to talk Kevin? I want you to pay for our daughter as you should be doing. You’ve made a really bad error for the last few months.’
During her campaign Jackson found out Mr McCormack was due to lose his rented flat when private letters sent to him by his landlord were diverted to her.
He eventually got himself a job as a nightclub doorman but she made an anonymous call to his new employer requesting confidential information about him and falsely claiming police were investigating him for fraud.
Jackson, from Macclesfield, Cheshire, who runs a hair extensions business, was eventually reported to police after Mr McCormack contacted the Royal Mail to ask why he had not been getting any letters and was supplied with a forwarding address.
He made his own inquiries at the house and was shocked to find Jackson’s car parked in the drive.
When police arrested her, they found a sack of mail at her home with letters addressed to him which had been opened.
Warrington Magistrates Court previously heard how McCormack received a series of messages from Jackson
During her campaign Jackson found out Mr McCormack was due to lose his rented flat when private letters sent to him by his landlord were diverted to her
He said when he blocked Jackson on WhatsApp he found a packet of four tipped over his vehicle the following day.
Sentencing, District Judge Jack McGarva refused to grant a restraining order and made no order for compensation telling Jackson: ‘It is you and your daughter who have been wronged.’
‘Her dad has not been pulling his weight in terms of supplying the support he is legally required to do. Having said that you have gone about trying to rectify the situation in completely the wrong way.
‘Some aspects of what you have done are quite serious, particularly tracking where he had been working – that sort of implies a threat about his employment. But I have to bear in mind the root of this offending is the fact that you did not have the money to make ends meet. It is not cheap bringing up a child, a budding teenager if I can put it that way.
Jackson, from Macclesfield, Cheshire, who runs a hair extensions business, was eventually reported to police after Mr McCormack contacted the Royal Mail to ask why he had not been getting any letters
‘I have decided not to award compensation as the whole reason you are here is because he did not meet his obligations. That does not justify what you did but it makes no sense to pay him money when he owes you a huge amount of money. That will be explained to him, I expect, if he asks.’
The court heard the pair began a relationship in 2010 and had a daughter together in 2012 but they split up eight years later.
Elizabeth Browne, prosecuting, said: ‘In April 2023, the victim began receiving WhatsApp messages from the defendant saying that she knew where he was working and demanding that he make child care payments.
‘She sent voice saved messages, saying that she knew where he was working and demanding money and also sent a photo of a map where the defendant had been that day, showing him travelling to Bolton. The map showed the starting time and the end time of the journey, the route he had taken and the exact location he visited.
‘The defendant followed that up by saying she knew where he worked. he complainant told her to stop contacting him and reported her to the police. But the victim said that the defendant called his place of work asking for information about him. He then received an email from the defendant, again asking for money she believed he owed for the child care.
Sentencing, District Judge Jack McGarva refused to grant a restraining order and made no order for compensation telling Jackson: ‘It is you and your daughter who have been wronged’
‘The victim also realised that he had not been receiving any post. He contacted the post office, who informed him that his post had been redirected to an address in Macclesfield. The post office gave him a card showing the rerouted address and that address had the defendant’s car parked outside it.
‘The victim has requested a restraining order in this matter with terms not to contact directly or indirectly him, save for by a solicitor or family court regarding child contact and or child maintenance, until further order.
In mitigation for Jackson defence lawyer Lionel Greig accepted his client had business interests but was currently claiming Universal Credit.
He said: ‘She acknowledges that she should not have done what she did but after seeking advice she was trying to prove that the complainant was working. That would have made a substantial difference to what she was entitled to from him, in order to look after their daughter.
‘There has been no further contact between the two parties. The complainant did not attend family proceedings regarding contact with the daughter and there is no financial support from Mr McCormack. She realises what she did was wrong but she was left to look after their daughter with help and support from her family.’
Jackson was also made to pay £314 in costs and victim surcharge. Outside court she said: ‘I am very pleased with the judge. He saw what had really gone on with Kevin.’
