A government employee has been found guilty of stalking a Dunedin businessman through a “bizarre campaign” which lasted two and a-half years. “What started out as something [the defendant] may have regarded as a prank escalated into threats to harm [the victim],” the judge said. The public servant, who stood trial on the charges last month, was granted name suppression at least until sentencing. Some months later, the businessman began receiving text messages and phone calls from gay males interested in meeting for sex. Defence counsel Anne Stevens accepted her client would have to pay the victim a substantial sum for emotional harm.

Source: Otago Daily Times April 19, 2017 22:15 UTC