Longhedge man jailed for stalking and breach of restraining order

A man from Longhedge has been jailed for two years for stalking and breaching a restraining order. 

Josh Clift, 31, of Davies Road, was sentenced at Salisbury Crown Court on June 4 after he pleaded guilty to stalking, breaching a restraining order and sharing a photograph or film of someone in an intimate state.

Clift repeatedly messaged the victim resulting in the victim gaining a non-molestation order. After Clift breached this, a restraining order was granted. This was breached and he was convicted at the beginning of the year.

In February, Clift sent multiple messages a day to his victim, consisting of threats and abuse. He also shared a video of the victim in an intimate state which caused significant distress. 

Even when the victim blocked Clift, he would find ways to contact her on other platforms.

Local Crime Investigator Cantillon, from the Volume Crime Team, said: “Clift was relentless in his attempts to contact the victim, sending multiple messages every day, which ranged from being abusive, proclaiming his love for her and threatening her. He even threatened to take a gravestone of a family member of the victim. When she didn’t reply, he then shared an intimate video of her, before going on the run from police.

“His persistent offending led to his victim feeling extremely distressed, anxious and unsafe. Nobody should be made to feel this way.

“I’d like to pay tribute to the victim who has shown real strength in reporting her ordeal to police – without her support, Clift would have continued to offend. I am glad the courts have handed him a custodial sentence – this shows the serious nature of this type of offending and that it will not be tolerated.”

As well as the two year prison sentence, Clift’s restraining order was extended for a further 10 years to prevent him from contacting the victim.