Tidworth man who stalked woman appears in court

Thursday, 23 October 2025 13:26

A man who stalked a woman and repeatedly found ways to contact her despite a police warning has appeared in court.

Ian Durkin (37) of Daunch Close, Tidworth appeared at Swindon Magistrates Court on October 14 and was found guilty of stalking and breach of bail.

Between 2023 and 2024, Durkin repeatedly contacted his victim by text, letters and various apps despite her blocking him on multiple platforms. He even turned up at her home on several occasions, including sitting outside her house on Christmas Day morning, and would turn up at different locations he knew she would be throughout the week.

He was given a warning by police not to contact his victim directly but continued to do so.

Investigator Joe Cantillon said: “Durkin repeatedly found ways to contact the victim. He would turn up at her home in the early hours of the morning, write letters or emails to her and even ensure he was at locations around the town where he knew she would be so he could speak to her despite her constantly telling him she didn’t want any further contact.

"His behaviour understandably caused her a significant amount of stress and left her feeling frightened in her own home – the very place she should feel safe. By pleading not guilty he has shown no signs of remorse and no understanding of the harm he was causing to his victim.”

In a personal impact statement supplied to the court, his victim described the impact Durkin has had on her life.

She said, “This has affected my life in every way. I no longer spend any time downstairs alone when I’ve put the kids to bed. I go straight upstairs so that if he does get in the house I have a few extra seconds to react. I sleep with the light on. The first thing I do every morning is check my cameras. I do this as soon as my alarm goes off in the morning – I have to do it before I can get on with my day. If someone knocks on my door unexpectedly, I am scared. I am in fear. I feel incredibly uncomfortable with men now. I try and stay away from social situations and feel that I can’t trust my own judgement now because I couldn’t see any of this coming. I felt like my life was so out of my own control.”

Durkin will be sentenced at Swindon Magistrates Court on November 19th.