BULWELL: Harassment case is thrown out

However, the case was thrown out because a police officer, who was due to give evidence, failed to turn up for the hearing.

Gavin Oldham (30), of Donbas Close, Bulwell, was arrested as a result of alleged family friction that arose last summer, Nottingham Magistrates’ Court heard.

Oldham was charged with pursuing a course of conduct that amounted to harassment without violence of his brother, Gareth Oldham (26), and his sister-in-law Lucy Norman, at Bulwell between Thursday 13th June and Tuesday 2nd July 2013.

He was said to have made 11 silent phone-calls to Miss Norman on 13th June, four silent calls to her and seven silent calls to his brother on 14th June, 56 silent calls to his brother and one silent call to Miss Norman on 17th June and one final silent call to Miss Norman on 2nd July.

Oldham pleaded not guilty, and the case was scheduled for trial on Thursday last week.

However, the hearing collapsed because of the absence of WPc Nicola Buckley, who had interviewed Oldham when he was arrested.

Andy Conboy (prosecuting) applied for an adjournment to enable WPc Buckley to attend at a later date.

But Helen Rooks (defending) opposed the application, explaining that there had been “no recurrence of the problems between the brothers” in recent months.

“It’s fair to say they see each other when they visit their mum’s home,” said Miss Rooks.

“But the don’t seek each other out. They saw each other over Christmas, and there were no problems.”

Miss Rooks also pointed out that, whatever happened to the case, the prosecution would not be seeking a restraining order.

She also cast doubt over the validity of the interview conducted with Oldham by WPc Buckley, given that it had been made “without any reference to his capabilities”.

When the Bench rejected the application for an adjournment, Mr Conboy said he could offer no evidence without the presence of WPc Buckley. The case was duly dismissed.