Sheffield man jailed for stalking his former partner

Tyrone Ellis, of Whitehouse Lane, Walkley, and the complainant began a relationship in 2015 that began to break down in March 2017, resulting in the pair temporarily breaking up, Sheffield Crown Court heard.

The pair resumed their relationship and things ‘carried on as normal’ until June 2018, said prosecutor, Brian Outhwaite. 

“She [the complainant] said the defendant’s behaviour became increasingly bizarre. He became angry when she refused to have sex with him, and on one occasion punched the bedroom door.

“He started to become obsessed with star signs, and said white people came from Mars. He told her to give up her job,” said Mr Outhwaite. 

The pair broke up again in August last year following an argument. 

Mr Outhwaite told the court how Ellis, 27, contacted his former partner ‘repeatedly’ two days after the break-up, saying he wanted to see her.

He subsequently turned up at the home of a friend the complainant was staying with, ahead of an early morning trip to the airport, and began ‘shouting and screaming’. 

Ellis left the premises after the complainant’s friend gave him a set of keys he had requested, but when the complainant left to go to the airport at 4.30am the following morning she found a birthday card she had given him on the windscreen of her car. 

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Mr Outhwaite said Ellis’ strange behaviour continued after the complainant returned from holiday, and on one occasion he attended at her address, ringing her doorbell constantly.

When she answered the door he was holding ‘her car registration plates and a screwdriver’. 

“He was again acting in a strange way, talking about demons. She called the police and they were on their way when the defendant left,” said Mr Outhwaite.

Following another altercation on August 31, Ellis was arrested and was found to have a stanley knife in his vehicle. 

Ellis, who has an extensive criminal record of 34 previous convictions, was on license for a 10-year sentence imposed in 2010 for aggravated burglary when he committed the offences.

He pleaded guilty to charges of stalking and having an article with a blade or point at an earlier hearing.  

Andrew Swaby, defending, said Ellis had managed to turn his life around since being released from prison in 2015, and had been in employment for the first time in his life. 

“He wanted to stay out of trouble after being released from prison, and he managed that for three-and-a-half years.

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“Substance abuse had become a problem, and he tells me cocaine was the form that took,” said Mr Swaby. 

He added: “They had difficulties in their relationship, and he merely wanted to speak to her to resolve matters. He realises the way he behaved was out of character.”

Ellis was recalled to prison in September last year, after committing the latest set of offences, with a release date of July 3 this year. 

Mr Swaby said Ellis had spent 184 days on remand, and had therefore served the equivalent of a 12-month sentence behind bars. 

Judge Michael Slater jailed Ellis for four months, and granted an indefinite restraining order which bans him from contacting the complainant. 

“I accept you did your best to stay out of trouble when you were released, and you did manage to stay out of trouble for some three-and-a-half years until these offences were committed,” said Judge Slater. 

He added: “Given the time you have spent on remand, it seems to me there is no need to increase your earliest release date.” 

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