Taxi driver stalked victim for three yearsA Linwood taxi driver has been spared jail for stalking a young woman he tried to buy from her parents after meeting her at church.
SHAMED: Lovemore Chirwa outside Paisley Sheriff Court.
Lovemore Chirwa, 41, pursued Primrose Masunda, 27, after meeting the Zimbabweans met at the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Paisley.
Chirwa, who was married when he met Masunda, hounded her for just short of three years.
He inundated her with letters, calls and texts, turned up at her house with flowers, followed her in his taxi and stole pictures of her from Facebook which he used as his profile photo on mobile messaging tool Whatsapp.
The pictures were adorned with messages which said ‘My future wife’, ‘The gift of my life’ or other sayings to do with love.
In August 2011 he began texting and calling Masunda, who had a boyfriend at the time, “declared his love” for her and tried to buy her from her parents.
He also sent her countless texts between August 1, 2011 and June 26, 2014 saying he missed her, wanted to talk to her and loved her.
And he also offered to pay the lobola, or bride price, to her parents - a sum of money which, if paid, would give him her hand in marriage.
Chirwa continued to contact Masunda despite promising her, her mum and their pastor that he would stop and, when she did not respond, he began texting her mum and her uncle.
Masunda went to the police six times about his unwanted advances before anything was done, and he ended up in the dock at Paisley Sheriff Court charged with stalking.
He denied causing Masunda fear and alarm by repeatedly writing to her, going to her house, telling her he wanted to be in a relationship with her, and repeatedly contacting friends and family to ask about her and forced her to give evidence against him.
And after seeing her cry as she told the court she had to leave Scotland because of his unwanted advances, he finally admitted his guilt.
Sentence was deferred on Chirwa so social workers could compile a report on his background and what punishment would suit him and the community most.
He returned to the dock this week to be sentenced for engaging in a course of conduct which caused her fear and alarm by continually contacting her against her will between 2011 and 2014.
Scott Banks, defending, said Chirwa was a first offender who had a strong belief in God and had been assessed by social workers as being a low risk of reoffending.
He said that Chirwa now faced losing his taxi driver’s license as Renfrewshire Council often revoke the licenses of drivers who have been convicted of a criminal offence.
As he spared Chirwa jail, Sheriff Colin Pettigrew said: “I take nothing away from your religious beliefs but when your religious beliefs traverse into the civil law of the country clearly I have a jurisdiction.
“Despite repeated rebuffs by Miss Masunda you continued to pursue her.
“This was stalking.”
He imposed a Community Payback Order as a direct alternative to custody, telling Chirwa to carry out 250 hours’ unpaid work over the next 12 months and placing a non-harassment order on him.
Chirwa, of Linwood, Renfrewshire, is now banned from approaching or contacting, or attempting to approach or contact, Masunda, directly or indirectly through her family, for a period of two-years.
source:
http://www.the-gazette.co.uk/news/round ... ree-years/
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