2017: HALESOWEN BUSINESSMAN JAILED FOR HATE CAMPAIGN AGAINST EX-GIRLFRIEND
A Halesowen businessman described as 'cruel' has received a prison sentence for masterminding a terrifying hate campaign targeting his former partner, culminating in her car being set alight with petrol.Robert McNaughton, aged 51, was resentful because Sharon McCann, his ex-girlfriend, refused to resume their relationship after his release from incarceration.
McNaughton, who was a director of Refuse Derived Fuel Ltd (RDF) based in Brierley Hill, previously served six months for neglecting to clear a massive rubbish pile on Moor Street.
The trash mound reached 42 feet at its highest point and caused hardships for local residents.
He enlisted a cellmate, who then involved another man, leading to multiple attacks on Miss McCann's residence.
Judge Simon Ward told McNaughton that the series of criminal damages was intended to cause emotional harm.
The judge explained that McNaughton made her believe he was her sole hope of ending the frightening campaign.
'You were her only hope because you were behind it,' the judge stated.
McNaughton also fabricated claims that a gang of Romanians was responsible for the vandalism, continuing to manipulate his ex-partner over an eight-year period.
Describing the acts as a calculated and cruel manipulation of her feelings, the judge sentenced him at Wolverhampton Crown Court.
He noted that McNaughton, of Tenter Drive, Halesowen, had inflicted terror upon Miss McCann, who has since sold her house and moved abroad to Spain.
The court revealed that vehicles parked outside her home had their tyres punctured and fluids poured onto them.
Additionally, bricks were thrown through windows, and red paint was used to damage the property.
The culmination of these threats was the petrol bomb that destroyed her car, turning it into a burnt-out shell with flames spreading to the house's front door.
Due to earlier threats, the occupants had been put on alert and managed to evacuate safely.
In her victim statement, Miss McCann explained that her life had been devastated by the campaign of hate.
She described feeling extremely frightened, constantly watched, and in a state of intense fear.
