A stalker has been sent to prison after his poor spelling aroused police suspicions.
Gary Young was being interviewed by officers about a potential breach of a stalking protection order (SPO) when one decided to give him a spelling test.
And it was Young’s failed attempt to spell the county ‘Somerset’ that got him put away as he wrote out the word ‘Summerset’.
The dodgy spelling matched that of a stalker who had been persistently messaging a woman on Facebook Messenger.
The convicted flasher, who comes from Canterbury, Kent, was jailed for one year after admitting two breaches of the SPO which triggered a 54-week suspended sentence.
An interim order in respect of the 48-year-old’s ex-girlfriend was imposed in April 2023 and was replaced by a five-year order in October, the sentencing hearing at Canterbury Crown Court heard.
Gary Young, 48, spelled the county ‘Summerset’ and police matched his poor spelling to that of the stalker
The order prohibited Young from having any contact with the woman.
Young breached the SPO when he sent a series of messages to his ex-girlfriend under the account name ‘Mary Montgomery’.
The first ones read, ‘Are you OK?’ and ‘I’m happy for you well done’ and were discovered by the woman when she redownloaded Facebook Messenger on a new phone.
After blocking Young, the woman spotted more messages in the spam folder and recognised her ex’s unusual grammar and writing style, which included terms such as ‘pickle cottage’ and ‘Mr Chips’.
Young was arrested but initially denied contacting the woman.
‘He was shown the screenshot of the messages on August 5 and said he did not recall sending the messages but accepted that they came from his account,’ prosecutor Craig Evans told the court.
‘He admitted having problems with alcohol and that he was receiving help for it.
‘He accepted that he probably had sent the messages when drunk. He said it was a mistake.’
The act was soon up, however, when police decided to check Young’s spelling.
‘He was asked how he spelled “Somerset”,’ Mr Evans continued. ‘He spelled it incorrectly and in the same way as the messages.
‘He then admitted that he had likely sent the messages on his aunt’s phone and must have been drunk when he sent them.
‘At the end of the interview, the defendant stated that he didn’t send the messages to be mean, that he did wish the victim all the best, and that he wanted to move on with his life.’
The convicted flasher, who comes from Canterbury, Kent, was jailed for one year after admitting two breaches of the SPO which triggered a 54-week suspended sentence
Young was found out in a similar manner nine years ago when a woman he had been bombarding with sexually explicit phone calls recognised his turns of phrase.
The stalker’s ex-partner described in an impact statement how her privacy had been invaded and she had installed cameras at home as a result of Young’s behaviour.
‘This whole incident has had a massive impact on me,’ the woman wrote.
‘I find that I am much more nervous and emotional than I used to be.
‘I feel that before all of this I was quite outgoing but now I feel uncomfortable even living in my own home.
‘I have had to put cameras up at my house and feel that my privacy has been seriously invaded because of him.’
Oliver Kirk, who was defending Young, said that the stalker ‘deeply and bitterly regrets’ his actions and that he is attempting to sort out his alcohol problems.