An Aberdeen stalker who left his female neighbour feeling “frightened and vulnerable” by spying on her through her bedroom window has been ordered by a court to stay away from her.
Sean Monaghan, 30, was found guilty following a trial that he stalked the 24-year-old student, who caught him watching her on more than 20 occasions.
As she bravely gave evidence at Aberdeen Sheriff Court, the young woman stated that Monaghan also following her as she walked to work and arrived unannounced at her door.
He later tried to connect with her on numerous social media sites over almost a year.
Monaghan was unrepentant as he represented himself at his sentence hearing, repeatedly stating that he was an “innocent man” and claimed he had never met his victim.
Monaghan changed story many times, dad says
Describing his actions as having a “significant impact” on the woman, Sheriff Lesley Johnston told Monaghan that he had frightened the young woman, who had the right to feel safe in her own home.
Speaking to the Press and Journal after the sentencing, Monaghan’s victim’s dad said the offences, and their aftermath, had been “very lengthy and stressful” on his daughter.
He accused Monaghan of repeatedly using delay tactics to draw out the legal process, such as his attempts to get a vision expert to speak to his poor eyesight.
The girl’s father also called out the convicted stalker for claiming he had never met his daughter, stating that Monaghan “continually changes his story”.
He added that he hopes his daughter is now able to “move on and try and rebuild her life” after her terrifying experience with Monaghan.
‘Threatened and scared’
During the trial, the woman told fiscal depute Eilidh Gunn that she became aware of Monaghan when he introduced himself to her in the street.
He then appeared at her front door inquiring if a parcel intended for him had been delivered to her home by mistake, despite them living in separate buildings.
Suspicious, the woman watched Monaghan as he left the building without enquiring about the parcel with anyone else in the block of flats.
It was around this time the woman noticed Monaghan staring into her bedroom from his living room window across the street.
Asked by Ms Gunn how it had made her feel, the woman said she had felt “quite threatened and scared” and “uncomfortable in her own home”.
When Monaghan knocked on her front door on a second occasion, the woman told the court she shut the door in his face as she “didn’t want him anywhere near her”.
Monaghan then tried to add her on Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat.
However, soon after she found him waiting outside her flat when she left to go to work – he would then follow her about 150 metres up the street.
“How many times did this happen?” Ms Gunn asked.
“About 10 to 15 times,” the woman stated.
A friend of the woman also gave evidence in which she said she saw Monaghan watching her on two occasions while she was visiting her friend.
Sheriff Johnston found Monaghan, of Ashvale Place, Aberdeen, guilty of one charge of engaging in a course of conduct that was intended to cause fear or alarm to his victim.
‘Considerable impact’
When asked to provide mitigation in his defence, Monaghan, who represented himself, continued to deny that he ever met the woman and referred to himself as an “innocent man”.
He also claimed not to be in his home at the times the young woman said he had been staring at her through her window, claiming he had been out walking his dog.
“It has been an awful year for me,” he said, adding: “I’m an innocent man and this has absolutely ruined my life.”
Sentencing Monaghan, Sheriff Johnston told him his female victim had “shown considerable bravery coming forward” to give evidence against him.
“I have no doubt that your actions had a considerable impact on her,” she said.
“Your offending behaviour left her feeling frightened and vulnerable in her own home – a place where she should feel safe.”
Describing Monaghan as having “little insight” into his offending or his impact on his victim, Sheriff Johnston made him subject to a community payback order and ordered him to carry out 160 hours of unpaid work.
She also put a non-harassment order in place, meaning Monaghan cannot approach or contact his former neighbour for three years.
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