Scorned ex bizarrely slept on mattress in Wakefield field to spy on former partner
A scorned ex who was told by a court to stay away from his former partner took to sleeping on a mattress in a field opposite where she was staying to watch her.
Keith Frith had been given the restraining order in 2022, along with a jail sentence, for violence against his partner. Leeds Crown Court heard this week that having been released from jail in November 2023, the pair resumed their relationship despite the order.
Prosecutor Lydia Carroll said the pair “tried to make a go of things” but by February of this year, the woman realised Frith, a father of six, was “never going to change”.
She went to her mother’s home but Frith began turning up, then began sleeping on the old mattress in the field next to where the woman’s mother lived. Frith, 37, would get mutual friends to message her, telling her he wanted money that he claimed she owed.
On February 13 he then approached her in the street, so she contacted the police.
In a victim impact statement, the woman said she was “living in fear”, felt isolated from friends and was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a result.
Frith, of Box Lane, Pontefract, has 39 previous for 76 offences. He was found guilty of two counts of breaching his restraining order following a trial at Leeds Magistrates’ Court. He appeared in court this week for sentencing via video link from HMP Leeds, where he was being held on remand.
Due to his denials, little mitigation could be said on his behalf. Judge Ray Singh told Frith: “You simply could not accept the breakdown of that relationship. Its impact on males like you is that you think it’s acceptable to bully and constantly harang and harass females.”
He jailed him for 30 months, and gave him a new five-year restraining order.