West Bergholt man Aaron Whitman breached court order

Garage worker Aaron Whitman harassed the victim for almost two months after she agreed to meet him in Colchester city centre on February 23.

Having returned home from their time together, she started receiving messages from Whitman, who was posing under a false name, on WhatsApp.

The 34-year-old’s increasingly relentless advances came in spite of the fact the woman had asked him not to contact her again.

Relentless - Aaron Whitman called his victim up to 100 times a day (Image: Essex Police)

“He started calling her in the early hours of the morning using no caller ID and up to 100 times a day,” Sophia Stapleton, prosecuting, told Chelmsford Crown Court.

The court was told Whitman, of Pirie Road, West Bergholt, was introduced to the woman via another person he had met on dating app Secret Benefits.

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However, the defendant, a convicted sex offender, was banned from using such platforms after he was made the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order in September 2020.

Whitman, who has four convictions for six previous offences, admitted breaching his order and harassment, which continued until April.

Meeting - Whitman met the complainant in Colchester city centre (Image: Newsquest)

Steven Levy, mitigating, said the author of a pre-sentence report said the defendant would benefit from “structural intervention” instead of custody, after several other failed prison sentences.

Recorder Alexander Mills agreed but stressed a “significant” number of messages had caused a “significant amount of distress” to the victim.

He said Whitman would benefit from a punishment targeted at tackling his offending behaviour.

“The reality is there is plenty that could be done to attempt to assist you… The public would not want you to appear before court again,” he added.

Suspended sentence - Whitman appeared before Chelmsford Crown Court (Image: Google Maps)

Whitman was handed a one year and two week prison sentence, suspended for two years.

He must undertake 240 hours of unpaid work among a host of rehabilitation activity and programme requirements.

A restraining order was made to ban contact with the victim for the next five years.

Mr Mills added: “This gives you an opportunity to change, to move on and not get stuck in the same cycle that you have been to date.”

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