Football boss harasser sentenced

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A TV reporter who bombarded Crystal Palace Football Club's chairman with lewd text messages and phone calls has been given a suspended jail sentence.

Tara Stout also sent chairman Simon Jordan underwear and love letters.

Stout, 35, of Clapham, south London, would call and text him up to 200 times a day, the trial earlier this month at Westminster Magistrates' Court heard.

On Friday, she was given a 26-week suspended jail sentence and ordered to carry out 200 hours' community service.

District Judge Quentin Purdy told Stout that she had pursued a "wilful and sustained" campaign against Mr Jordan, knowing that "it was going to cause him at the very least annoyance".

A harassment order had previously been served on Stout but the judge said there had been a "flagrant breach" of her previous warning from the police.

Letter of apology

But he said this was her first conviction and she had previously spent a number of weeks in custody. But he told her if she committed a further offence she faced 26 weeks' imprisonment.

A restraining order which was granted last week, banning Stout from contacting Mr Jordan or his family stands indefinitely, the judge added.

Before sentencing, Stout read out a letter of apology addressed to the taxpayers and residents of Westminster and the employees and members of the magistrates' court.

She said: "I have to apologise for using my knowledge of British law to force this case into a courtroom when I could easily have prevented it from reaching this eventuality."

Mr Jordan's family was threatened by Stout

She asked for the judge to give her the opportunity to partake in community service.

During the trial, Judge Purdy said the correspondence was clearly offensive, some rambling and some plainly inane.

Millionaire businessman Mr Jordan told the court she once left him a message threatening to "gut my mother and slice my nieces".

Stout, who had denied the harassment charges, admitted sending threatening message but said she did not mean them.

She added from the beginning of their short relationship she and Mr Jordan had exchanged very explicit text messages and admitted she loved him.