A woman has been ordered to stay away from her ex after bombarding her with hundreds of messages a day and lurking outside her home.
Alicia Beaton struggled to accept the relationship was over and left her former partner “terrified” with her obsessive and threatening behaviour over the course of over a month.
The 34-year-old blew up her ex’s phone with hundreds of emails, texts, Snapchat messages, Facebook calls and even TikToks in a bid to rekindle things.
And while Beaton claimed the woman had given her “false hope” of reconciliation, she accepted her behaviour had “crossed the line”.
Fiscal depute Brooklyn Shaw told Aberdeen Sheriff Court the couple had been in an on-off relationship between November 2022 and May 2023 when the complainer terminated it.
However, they did briefly rekindle things between the end of May and the start of June.
Refused to accept relationship was over
During their relationship, the couple had various arguments because the complainer believed Beaton was lying to her.
Following one such row, on August 12 2023, Beaton sent a “large volume of messages” to the woman on Snapchat over the next week apologising for lying.
The pair then met up to discuss things but had a further argument and the complainer phoned a friend to pick her up.
As she tried to leave, Beaton approached the vehicle “shouting aggressively” and kicked it before they were able to drive away.
Following this, Beaton sent the woman around 100 Snapchat messages on a daily basis in which she “refused to accept the relationship was over”.
At one point, Beaton added a post to her Snapchat story which stated: “F*** it, I’ve lost everything anyway, let’s go do this.”
This left the complainer in fear that Beaton was coming to her house and she ran to ensure her doors were locked.
At 10pm on August 20, Beaton turned up outside the woman’s home address, frightening her and causing her to contact friends for help.
While outside, Beaton phoned her ex and sent several Snapchat messages making threats such as: “Open the f***ing door or I’ll come in.”
Beaton then remained outside for two hours.
Abusive Snapchat messages
Around a week later, the pair met up and the complainer again reiterated that the relationship was over while Beaton apologised but refused to listen or accept that it was over.
On September 8, the woman was on a night out with friends and shared a photo of the group on social media.
As a result, Beaton “bombarded” her with abusive Snapchat messages asking to meet up.
The complainer declined but continued to receive messages and calls on various apps throughout the evening and into the next morning.
Beaton tried to add the woman on social media accounts, despite being blocked, and sent emails asking to meet up over the following weeks.
Her ex was left feeling “threatened” by the content of the messages, with one stating: “I have a whole day of nowt to do so I’ll see you somewhere at some point.”
On September 18, Beaton left the woman five threatening voicemails.
Fearful of Beaton, the woman changed her locks and phoned the police.
Repeated messages and a total of 58 calls continued on September 21 and 22.
Also on September 22, Beaton turned up at her ex’s address and, when she answered the door, put her foot in it to prevent it being closed and refused to remove it.
She demanded that they speak, leaving the woman “visibly shaken and terrified”.
The police were contacted again and Beaton was arrested.
Threatening behaviour
Beaton, of West Murcar Crescent, Bridge of Don, pled guilty to engaging in a course of behaviour which was abusive of her ex partner between August 12 and September 23 2023 at various addresses in Aberdeen.
Defence agent Paul Barnett described the couple’s relationship as “intense”.
He added: “The contact between them was far from being a one-way street.
“The complainer seemed to fluctuate between wanting contact with Ms Beaton and periods where she would block her and not have any contact at all with her.”
Mr Barnett read the court a message from September 9 from the woman to his client in which she said: “I want us to work in my heart of hearts.”
The solicitor went on: “Messages of that nature were giving Ms Beaton false hope that there was a prospect of the relationship continuing.
“Having said that, Ms Beaton also absolutely accepts that there were many times when her behaviour crossed the line.
“She does express remorse and recognises her behaviour would have had no doubt an impact on the complainer.”
Sheriff Lesley Johnston ordered Beaton to complete 160 hours of unpaid work as a direct alternative to custody.
She also imposed a three-year non-harassment order.
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