A woman who was harassed for years by her ex-husband and his new partner has spoken out about what she went through following the pair’s conviction last month.

The woman who wanted to remain anonymous said she wanted to speak out because she did not want other people to go through what she had to and provide hope to “those who are experiencing what I have”.

The couple were given suspended sentences and restraining orders following their conviction for harassment with the sitting District Judge describing it saying: “In all my years as a judge, I have yet to hear such a catalogue of harassment by two individuals against another…it beggars belief.”

Speaking to The Impartial Reporter, she said: “Imagine for a moment what it is like to be harassed by two people for 10 years of your life. Imagine further this harassment consists of vile abuse every time you encounter them.

“It also consists of ongoing false accusations to your employer and to social services about your child, invasion of your privacy through unlawful access of you and your family’s confidential medical records, filming covertly outside your workplace and through planting a listening device in your child’s school bag so you don’t even have privacy in your own home.

“Imagine finally that the people doing this to you are your ex-husband and his new partner.”

She paid tribute to the support she received from her family and friends and organisations such as Women’s Aid as without this she says she “would have ended up having a breakdown”.

“My father passed away during the middle of all this harassment and I wasn’t given the chance to mourn properly or support my mother to be able to do so.

“It has made me wonder how many cases where justice has not been served because the victim has become so traumatised that they cant carry on.

“The impact of everything that happened to me has been immense and difficult to fully express in words.

“I spent a large part of my life, and will continue to do so for some time in the future looking over my shoulder and being fearful of going out in case I encounter them.

“I had always been a fun, bubbly person but this experience has removed a lot of joy out of my life because of their relentless campaign against me.

“Every allegation made against me was shown to be false yet it took many years before my case was taken seriously and in some instances I was made to feel that I was the criminal.”

She feels more needs to be done and people need to take harassment more seriously and hopes laws around stalking are introduced in Northern Ireland in the future. She points to a Stalking Reference Group which was set up with partner victim support organisations as part of a review into the laws relating to stalking in Northern Ireland.

The group found 93 per cent of respondents felt the current laws were insufficient and victims felt they were not treated seriously by police and their complaints were not being fully investigated.

“There are many things that are wrong with how cases like mine are treated.

“The police don’t always treat harassment seriously where the couple have been married and write it off as ‘a domestic’.”

“The legal system and the police are hugely under resourced so it can takes years to get justice.

“This couple spent so much time recording me that there were hundreds of hours of recordings that had to be checked and lack of sufficient staff to document the evidence means it takes far longer than it should.

“This allows the harassment to continue and intensify. I was granted non-molestation orders previously but these lasted only a year and didn’t stop the harassment continuing.”

Now she wants to enjoy her life going forward.

“I do not want to become another meaningless statistic and want to move on and begin to take a semblance of enjoyment in my life going forwards.

“I hope this couple will now leave me alone due to the suspended sentences they have received.

“If not, at least I now have three years protection under the law that would see them imprisoned if there are any future offences against me.

“However, I want to see a change in the law on stalking and improved resources given to the criminal justice system so no-one has to go through what I did,” she added. For domestic abuse victims, help and support is available from Fermanagh Women’s Aid on 02866328898.