News / Man persistently harassed estranged wife
A FIFTY year old man who continued to harass his estranged wife whilst on bail has been handed a two-year jail term.
Ricardo Kortram, a prisoner at Grampian Prison, had been in custody since early December after breaching his bail conditions within a few days of his previous court appearance on 26 November.
Kortram admitted engaging in conduct that caused the woman fear or alarm by repeatedly telephoning her and approaching her at her place of work between 30 November and 1 December.
The offences took place at her work place, a hairdressing salon in Lerwick, and elsewhere.
Procurator fiscal Duncan Mackenzie said the latest offence was part of a “convoluted list” of crimes stretching back to 18 April last year.
Taken together, the three cases over the past nine months amounted to hundreds of phone calls, Mackenzie said.
Last May he was jailed for seven and a half months for repeatedly phoning and texting the woman, threatening to kill himself if she did not reconcile with him, and threatening to kill her.
Once out of jail in late November, Kortram turned up at her workplace ostensibly with a card and gift for their young son, but within the card was a note stating: “you don’t know that I know the truth”.
The fiscal described Kortram’s persistent conduct as “sinister and insidious”.
“This woman is terrorised by, and lives in fear of him,” the fiscal said.
Referring to recent legislation designed to protect people from such behaviour, Mackenzie continued: “This is by far the worst case of its kind that I have dealt with since this provision was introduced.”
While Kortram maintained his behaviour was motivated by a desire to see his son, the fiscal was dubious about how hard he had tried to secure his legal rights.
Defence agent Tommy Allan said his client had been in jail since 2 December, and had only been free for four days since 30 April last year.
That had been “extremely frustrating” as he had not been able to obtain a lawyer to move ahead with divorce proceedings.
After being released on bail he started drinking and began phoning the woman again. He accepted a note was included in the gift card for his son, but he only put it in the door of her workplace before leaving.
Sheriff Philip Mann said he did not know how to get the message across to Kortram that his behaviour had to stop.
Jailing him for a total of two years, with three separate sentences running concurrently, the sheriff also imposed a non-harassment order for an indefinite period.
Kortram himself was permitted to speak, protesting that he had done everything he could to get a lawyer whilst behind bars. He “made a couple of mistakes and paid for them” but said he was “trying to turn my life around”.
Sheriff Mann attached conditions to the non-harassment order stipulating that Kortram is only to approach the complainant through a solicitor, and must only enter Shetland for pre-arranged contact with his son.
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