A 45-year-old man launched a vile campaign against the family of an innocent teenage boy he believed was part of a gang who attacked him. Company director Eric Oldfield sent a barrage of threats to the 14-year-old's mother over a period of five months, Minshull Street Crown Court heard.
It came after Sale man Oldfield, who had previously been beaten up by a gang of youths at a Metrolink stop, was told the boy had been one of those responsible for assaulting him. The court heard how police had failed to catch the culprits of the attack, but the 45-year-old turned his scorn at the boy's mother.
He sent a series of letters to her, calling her a ‘worthless c*** s****** council estate skank’ and demanding her son is kept away from 'the wrong crowds'.
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On two occasions, Oldfield followed through with threats to ‘come round’ and visited their address, both times leaving an ominous sticky note calling card on their ring alarm bell.
Police eventually arrested Oldfield, who ran his own engineering firm before becoming a well-paid consultant, after the woman said she feared for her son whenever he walked to and from school. In interview he said he had been given the boy's son’s name from a contact he refused to name.
He later admitted his 'source' lacked credibility. The accused boy cannot be named for legal reasons.
In court, Oldfield admitted sending malicious communications and was sentenced to four months jail suspended for 18 months. He was also made the subject of a restraining order.
Lisa Boocock, prosecuting, said: “In November 2018, the defendant was punched in the face at a Metrolink tram stop in south Manchester. He fell to the ground and the incident left him with facial bruising and a cut to his lip.
“The case was promptly reported to the police and the incident was captured on CCTV. However, the case was later dropped due to a lack of definitive evidence being produced.
“Although no one was prosecuted for the crime, the defendant was told by a source that a fourteen year old boy was one of the perpetrators. In October 2021, the defendant discovered their address and sent the boy's mother a letter stating that he was the victim of an assault in that he believed her son was involved in.
''He said that he would report her son to the police but would rather not. He demanded that she put her son on the straight and narrow.
“In February 2021, the defendant wrote to her again and said you dirty s*** I have f*****g told you about the boy already. If you don’t sort him out I will come round and sort you out you worthless c*** s****** council estate skank.
“In another letter, the defendant included a screenshot of google maps in a browser with their address being highlighted. He also included a link to an article about a teenage boy being killed in Manchester.
''She felt that this article was intended to make her feel that her son was going to suffer the same fate. He also reissued his demand to stop her son from hanging out with the wrong crowd.
“The defendant also contacted the son on Instagram using the handle thinnest blueline. He said that he could not bulls**t him as the incident had been caught on CCTV and he knew it was him. In response, the son called him a lowlife sitting behind his laptop.
“On March 14, he sent a message to the boy's mother saying that if she did not act he would come round and smash their windows in. On March 18, the defendant sent another message to the son although it was directed towards his mother.
"In this, he wrote act or I come round. Then just six days later, on March 24, the defendant attended their address twice at around 13:39 and then again at 14:58.
"On both occasions he walked up to their front door and left a sticky note on their Ring doorbell, covering its camera.” Oldfield was arrested at his home on April 3.
In mitigation, defence counsel Max Saffman said: “The assault triggered heart issues he had been having which previously led to him having to have a pacemaker fitted. This incident put him into shock and the trauma has lasted with him.
“Although the assault was reported to the police and he did follow up, no action was taken. Most people would have thought that it was just one of those things.
"But at the time he has been alone for a while, struggling to hold down a serious relationship, and his isolation only got worse during the covid pandemic. He was alone and had no one to tell him: 'Eric, what are you doing?'
“He is an intelligent man with a history of employment. He was previously employed as a consultant with a good salary but has since resigned from the role. There was no real intention behind any of his threats.”
Oldfield was ordered to undertake 20 rehabilitation activity hours and complete 100 hours of unpaid work. In sentencing, judge Mr Recorder Jeremy Lasker said: “You display an amazing ability for double standards, telling this lady to make sure her kids do not hang around with the wrong crowd and then going on to call her a worthless c*** s****** council estate skank.
“Where do we go if every time the police decide not to charge a suspect the public decide to take it into their own hands. Your actions after your assault have turned you from a victim to an offender.”
An earlier version of this story included details, heard in open court, that the defendant set up a fake profile for the woman involved in the case on a sex website. The court later heard this evidence was incorrect - and that the woman's details were not posted online. The M.E.N. is happy to clarify this point.
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