A BARNSLEY man who ‘relentlessly’ harassed and attacked a woman just months after she had a restraining order against him has been jailed for three years.
Martyn Johnson, 37, of High Street, Thurnscoe, was convicted in December for assault occasioning actual bodily harm against the woman, who has not been named.
He was subsequently handed a suspended sentence which included conditions not to contact the victim.
However, Johnson began contacting her on withheld numbers just three months after his conviction.
He demanded to know where she was before threatening her and turning up to places she was - leaving her in ‘constant’ fear.
Johnson was also in regular contact with people who knew the victim, speaking to them in an aggressive manner and demanding to know where she was.
In June, the 37-year-old ‘violently’ assaulted the woman and left her with head injuries - though she fortunately did not need hospital treatment.
Following a police warrant out for his arrest, he was found on June 21.
Whilst Johnson was in custody, he replied ‘no comment’ to every question during his interview and refused to co-operate with officers in charge of the case.
However, due to the evidence he was charged with assault by beating, breach of restraining order by harassment and causing actual bodily harm.
He was found guilty of all three offences at Sheffield Crown Court on July 21.
On August 30, he was sentenced to three years in prison, and was handed another restraining order - this time one that prevents him from contacting the woman or going within 100 metres of her address.
PC Kayleigh Banks, who led the investigation, said: “Johnson has shown he has no regards for the law as he continued to harass and abuse this woman despite his previous conviction, and I welcome this sentence as it finally allows her to move forward with her life.
( “This woman has been through a horrific ordeal, that not only impacted her but also those around her due to Johnson’s actions, and I’d like to thank her for her bravery coming forward and assisting with the investigation, which has led to him now spending a significant amount of time behind bars.
( “We take all incidents of violence against women and girls seriously and it is a priority at South Yorkshire Police so if you want to report someone for crimes of this nature, please come forward and we will bring the perpetrators to justice.”
More than half of all crimes reported to police in Barnsley were linked to violence and sexual offences recently.
Statistics obtained by the Chronicle show that throughout April a total of 1,791 crimes were reported to South Yorkshire Police in the town’s four policing wards of Barnsley Central, South East, West and North East.
The latter had the most reports with a total of 624 incidents - almost 100 more than the South East ward.
Of those 624, more than half 331 were attributed to violence and sexual offences.
Recorded stalking and harassment offences also rose in Barnsley, with 3,770 offences reported in the town.
