A man who breached his non-molestation order when he saw his ex-wife on Newport High Street has seen his community order revoked and resentenced.
Stephen Berry, 34, of Weston Road in Cowes, pleaded guilty to breach of a non-molestation order when he appeared before Magistrates on Tuesday.
Ann Smout, prosecuting, told the court that on 12th May this year, Berry was told he couldn’t contact his ex-wife for a period of 12 months.
On 15th August, Berry’s ex-wife was walking along Newport High Street outside B&M when they were seen by Berry, who was outside Poundland. He shouted across the road to her and asked ‘where are the kids’, to which she replied ‘in the shop’.
After the exchange, Berry’s ex-wife was pushed into the shop away from the altercation by a friend.
In interview, Berry said that he didn’t approach the woman – who was his wife for 17 years – and responded no comment to nearly all questions that he was asked.
This was Berry’s 2nd infringement with the law in just 2 weeks after he admitted breaching the same order on 5th December. On that occasion, he was handed a 12-month community order with 150 hours of unpaid work attached and 30 rehabilitation days.
Defending, Oscar Vincent said that his client hadn’t seen his children in over a year and that the meeting wasn’t planned instead it was a chance encounter in the street.
Magistrates revoked and resentenced Berry’s original order adding 50 more hours to his unpaid work order. He was also ordered to pay costs of £85 and a surcharge of £114.
