Macclesfield woman handed community order for stalking man and stealing his post

A woman from Macclesfield has been issued with a community order after stalking and harassing a man – going as far as placing a tracking device on his car and intercepting his post.

Veronica Jackson, of Chalford Road, Macclesfield, appeared at Chester Magistrates' Court on Friday 26 June where she was sentenced with a community order after previously pleading guilty to theft and, without reasonable excuse, intentionally delaying a postal packet in the course of its transmission by post.

Jackson was later also found guilty of stalking.

The case began on 11 April 2023, when the victim, who was known to Jackson, began receiving WhatsApp messages from her demanding payments of money allegedly owed - claiming that she knew where he worked and could find him.

The 44-year-old continued to send similar messages over the next four days, before sending him a screenshot of a map showing him travelling to Bolton as well as his journey’s start and end times.

On Sunday 28 April, the victim was informed by his employer that a woman had called his place of work asking if he worked there, however, this was not confirmed by the staff member.

Less than a week later, the victim received an email from Jackson, again, asking for more payments. The email also referred to the victim’s housing situation, confidential information she should not have known about.

Following this, the victim noticed he had not been receiving post and visited the Post Office to enquire whether any letters or parcels had been withheld. He was informed by the Post Office that a request had been made to forward his post to an address in Macclesfield.

Visiting the address, he found Jackson’s car outside and believed this was how she became aware of his housing circumstances.

On 9 May 2023, Cheshire Police officers arrested Jackson on suspicion of harassment, theft of mail and mail interference. Jackson admitted to redirecting the post and pointed officers to a number of letters that showed that they had been redirected from her victim's address to hers. Her phone was also seized.

Upon examination of the device, officers found map screenshots similar to those previously sent to the victim that showed his location and journey times. The map was part of an app used to manage vehicle tracking devices and a profile assigned to the victim’s car had been created.

Officers conducted a search of the victim’s car, however, due to the amount of time between the offence and the search, no device was found – with it impossible to tell whether it had been removed by a third party or had fallen off in transit.

Despite this, Jackson was subsequently charged and appeared at Chester Magistrates' Court where she was handed the community order. Under the order, Jackson must complete 100 hours of unpaid work within 12 months. Along with this, Jackson must also pay a surcharge of £314. 

PC James Hails, of Macclesfield’s Area Investigation Team, said:

“Jackson’s behaviour left her victim’s privacy significantly disrupted, with his personal correspondence being intercepted and his movements monitored through the use of a concealed tracking device.

“These acts of frequent harassment, along with contact Jackson made to his place of employment, left the victim fearing that she was around every corner and he was constantly being watched.

“This case highlights how anyone can become a victim of stalking, and the psychological and emotional impact it can have on those it affects.

“This type of behaviour will never be tolerated by Cheshire Police and I would like to assure anyone who feels that they may be a victim of stalking or harassment, that we take every report seriously and that we will always take swift action to safeguard victims.”