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| Sex Leaflets: Ian Mangham |
A detective sergeant has been jailed for sixteen weeks for harassing his ex-girlfriend by distributing fake leaflets advertising her services as a prostitute.
Ian Mangham, 50, who wooed the mother-of-two when she reported her ex-husband to police placed the ads in local pub toilets and phone boxes.
It was revenge after business development manager Agnes Collowey, 38, dumped him and as a result she received phone calls and knocks on her door at all hours of the night.
"You are a serving police officer with a long and distinguished record over twenty-six years," District Judge Quentin Purdy told him.
"You are a man of good character and everything that goes with it facing custody for a disgraceful episode that was cruel and vindictive."
Mangham, of Baldwins Hill, Loughton, Essex denied, but was convicted of harassing her between October 23, 2014 and April 1, last year.
Hammersmith Magistrates Court heard Mangham was also the author of a hand-written note Agnes found stuffed in the letterbox of her Highams Park, Chingford home which read: 'Romanian whore. Dirty prostitute, get out of our street.'
She was also bombarded with junk mail, catalogues and brochures after Mangham completed hand-written coupons in her name for products and services.
"Far more aggravating were these leaflets advertising for those seeking sexual services and giving her full name, phone number and address.
"She had people knocking on her door in the middle of the night and phoning her and she knew they were seeking sexual services," added the judge.
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| Harassed: Agnes Collowey |
Mangham was also ordered to pay Agnes £3,000 compensation and £500 prosecution costs and was made subject to an indefinite restraining order prohibiting him contacting her or her children.
He is now suicidal, revealed Mr. Alisdair Williamson, defending. "He was and remains ill and after the trial was admitted to Princess Alexandra Hospital.
"They were concerned about self-harming and that he would take his own life and as the probation report says, he is a broken man."
Mangham's house is for sale and he intends moving back in with his parents in Leamington Spa.
"Please do not send him into immediate custody, he needs help and the clang of the prison door will not serve justice, but contribute to his ill health.
"Sometimes a man's life is a fragile edifice held together by the fragile bond of love and when that goes, everything goes and that happened to this man.
"It's pathetic and sad, but he'd return home to an empty house, lonely, and despite the support of the police service he could not admit to his colleagues the loneliness he felt."
Mangham began drinking heavily and his doctor put him on medication.
He has not yet confessed to being the author of the prostitute leaflets, but now concedes he was behind the avalanche of junk mail.
"He admits through me being the author of those coupons, it was one night of filling-in coupons in bitterness.
"It's difficult for a man to come to terms with the complete destruction of his life."
Before he was jailed Mangham, dressed in smart blue suit, white shirt and tie, said from behind the dock's security glass: "I am very sorry."
A handwriting expert confirmed there was a "very strong" probability he was the author of the coupons and prosecutor Mr. Michael Mallon said: "It's clear there is an obsession here."
One order was for jewellery engraved with the words: 'To My Best Lover' and 'To My Beloved Friend,' and another was for adult films.
They were together over four years after Agnes, a biology and chemistry graduate, was forced to attend Hornsey Police Station when her troublesome ex-husband reported her missing.
Their first date was on December 9, 2009 and in the early days Mangham slept on her couch.
She described their relationship as: "on-off", agreeing she ended it. "I did not see the point in continuing this relationship
"A few months after we broke up he was trying to persuade me to get back together with him," she told the court. "I tried to tell him that we were so different there was no point continuing."
She moved out in July, 2014, but Mangham turned up on the doorstep of her new home at 10.30pm three months later. "I was angry," she recalled
He then launched the harassment campaign, initially with the junk mail bombardment. "Letters were coming every day from different companies.
"They usually started with the words: 'Thank-you for your enquiry' when I had not made any enquiry
"Some were very upsetting, like one which offered to look after my dog after my death and I received a letter from an undertaker's and a mobility company."
Calls from local men seeking sex then began. "One called for sexual services and said he found my number in the mens toilet of a Chingford pub.
"I was constantly receiving text messages and some were very rude and I had people knocking on my door in the middle of the night."
One call was from a pub at the end of her road and another from a phone box opposite Highams Park train station, where a leaflet advertised Agnes's address and phone number.
"It made me feel scared and uncomfortable in my own home with my son. I feared for my safety," Agnes told the court, adding she also received mystery "aggressive" texts.
The dustbins outside her home were also pushed over late one night and someone applied for a credit card in her name.
Mangham told the court he was not behind the harassment campaign and denied there was anything inappropriate about having a relationship with a woman who had gone to the police.
"We just got talking and I believe her son took a liking to me," he said, denying there was ill-feeling after the split. "I had moved on and wished her well."
Mangham told the court he bought a home for himself and Agnes to live together in.
He agreed sending her a text, which read: "I want to marry you in Venice and be a father to your son."
When she moved out he loaned her £3,600 to cover a deposit and rent for her new home, plus another £500 to help her set-up a massage business as a sideline.
They continued to exchange texts and see each other in local pubs, even kissing on one occasion, which Mangham took as an indication they were back together.
"It was on," he told the court, explaining Agnes finally split with him in a text message.
He only turned up on the doorstep of her new home on October 24, 2014 to collect the money owed and not to harass her, Mangham claimed.
He agreed receiving a text from Agnes, which read: "This is harassment, I will report you to the police."
From that point on he said he had nothing more to do with her and the leaflets and junk mail must have been orchestrated by someone else.
He did admit reporting her to the benefits agency in November, 2014 and looking-up her new boyfriend's linkedIn page.
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