Man harassed diner owner who’d sacked his partner

A Spalding man bombarded a local businesswoman with messages and telephone calls after his partner was sacked by her.

Matthew Poxon, 34, of Rowan Avenue, admitted harassment without violence of Faith Pearson in May
and June this year, as well as damaging a police van by ’emitting bodily fluids’ when he was being
conveyed to the police station on June 20.

Marie Stace said that Ms Pearson was forced to dismiss Poxon’s partner after about three weeks employment at her diner but had been unable to pay her outstanding wages as she had not been sent the necessary documents.

Ms Stace said that between May 25 and June 15, Ms Pearson received up to four or five text and telephone messages every day from Poxon, who she did not know apart from his being named as her former employee’s next of kin.

The messages were usually in the early hours of the morning and some of them were threatening, magistrates at Boston heard.

She said he also posted negative reviews of Ms Pearson’s diner on social media.

In a victim statement to the court, Ms Pearson said this had left her feeling ‘scared and intimated’.

Ms Stace said that in 2020 Poxon had been placed on a community order for assaulting an emergency worker.

Mitigating, Tony Freitas said Poxon had been angry because his wife had not been paid wages that were owing but admitted he had gone too far.

He said Poxon never had any intention to follow through on the threats and had now referred himself to his GP and had been undertaking anger management training for the past eight weeks.

He was ordered to undertake 20 rehabilitation days and to pay a fine of £133 as well as a total of £199 in court costs and charges.

He was also served with a five year restraining order to prevent him contacting Ms Pearson in any way or
attending her diner or reviewing it on social media and also not to go anywhere where she might be.