Wakefield window cleaner given 'one last chance' by judge after harassing ex partner

Joseph Burns, 35, of Garsdale Grove, was subject to a restraining order against the victim, but continued to message her this year, asking if she still loved him, and whether they should get a hotel room together.

Burns, who the court was told runs a window cleaning company, had already served a prison term for previous breaches of the order, but was spared jail by the judge, who warned Burns he had “one more chance” to clean up his act.

A sentencing hearing at Leeds Crown Court heard the relationship between Burns and the victim ended four years ago, and that the two had one child together. A restraining order was put in place against Burns in 2019. After three breaches of the order the following year, it was updated to ensure Burns had no contact directly or indirectly with the victim, other than through her mother to arrange custody for his son.

Despite this, Burns sent the victim a message earlier this year, which included the line “do you love me? Do you miss me?”. The victim responded by asking him to leave her alone and stop contacting her.

The court also heard that, on another occasion he asked her if she wanted him to book a hotel room for the two. The victim said “no”, adding that she wanted nothing to do with him.

The victim told police: “I want him to leave me alone so I can get on with my life and he can get on with his.”

Burns had pleaded guilty to three counts of harassment and breaching a restraining order during a hearing at Leeds Magistrates Court last month.

Mitigating for Burns, Satpal Roth-Sharma said: “He works hard to run his own window cleaning business and is trying to be a good father.”

Ms Roth-Sharma went on to describe Burns’s relationship with the victim as “toxic”. She added that on one of the occasions when Burns contacted the complainant, it was after he was told his son had fallen at school, at which point he panicked and attempted to ring her.

When asked by the judge about the “hotel room” text, Ms Roth-Sharma said: “It was a moment of stupidity [by Burns].”

She added Burns had been granted permission to spend time with his son over Christmas, which he was looking forward to.

Handing Burns a sentence of 18 weeks imprisonment, suspended for 18 months, Judge Mushtaq Kohar said: “There comes a time when a partner wants to get away from you and does not want anything to do with you, other than for contact with your son, but that message does not seem to have got through to you.

"I will give you one more chance – any future breach is going to come before me.

"I’m reserving this case for myself – any breach of the suspended sentence will come back before me – I promise, the next time, you will go to prison.”

He also instructed that Burns should complete 30 hours unpaid work.