A mother suffering from “empty nest” syndrome attacked her only child during a campaign of harassment after she became jealous over him moving out of their family house to set up home with his new girlfriend.
Pauline Randles, 57, punched newly qualified policeman Simon Randles in the face and kicked him in the leg during a violent confrontation after telling him his partner Lauren Stocker was “taking him away from her.”
Over a six week period over-protective parent Mrs Randles, of Neston, Cheshire sent abusive texts to her son, a British Transport Police constable saying: “I wish you were aborted - I wish you were sacked from your job.”
She also threatened to take an overdose of prescription medication if he failed to attend to her needs “immediately” and sent pictures of a kitchen knife saying she would slit her wrists with it.
In a statement PC Randles, who is in his 30s, said he had to be admitted to hospital due to stress caused by him being hounded by his mother. He now suffers from anxiety and depression and asked for a restraining order saying the “situation had gone on for far too long.”
At Warrington magistrates court, Mrs Randles pleaded guilty to two charges of criminal damage, harassment, and assault. She was fined £120 and was ordered to complete a 12-month community order and was banned from contacting PC Randles for 18 months.
PC Randles had previously had a good relationship with his mother and used to live with her while he worked as a delivery driver and a special constable for BTP. But trouble began after he met Miss Stocker in May last year, and they moved in together after he he completed his formal police training.
“The defendant started threatening him that she would take an overdose if he didn’t attend to her needs immediately,” said prosecutor Miss Ashleigh Simpson.
“She did take some tablets and was taken to hospital for checks but was released the same day. The complainant says that the defendant did not like the fact that he was in a relationship. She stated numerous times that his girlfriend had taken him away from her and her behaviour was escalating all the time.
“When he was out with his girlfriend, the defendant would make out she was going to kill herself. On one occasion she showed pictures of a kitchen knife on a step with a message saying: “I will kill mysefl with this.’ Following this, her son contacted police and an ambulance was sent to have her assessed.
“The son was constantly receiving text messages from his mother, which included: 'I wish you were dead', 'I wish you were aborted', and 'I wish you were sacked from your job’.
“There were also threats of suicide knowing the effect it would have on the complainant. He suffers from anxiety and depression. He said he had been recently admitted to hospital which he attributes to stress from the constant communication with the defendant.
“He told her not to contact him numerous times and blocked her number.”
On April 25, PC Randles was with his girlfriend when he received an SOS call saying his mother was at the home of her brother Ronald.
Miss Simpson added: “As he arrived at the address in a car, he saw his mother on the kerb and she came over to him, saying ‘Why are you here? Why is Lauren here? If I see Lauren I will kill her’.
“The girlfriend tried to drive off and could see that the defendant was angry. The defendant then stood out in front of the car only for her son to take her hand to get her out of the way. She attempted to resist him by kicking him in the leg and punching him in the face. He had no injuries but he had to restrain her on the ground. The defendant continued to attempt to kick him as did this.”
PC Randles subsequently left his mother at the property but she attempted to force open the kitchen window and then the back door using a wire that had come loose from her bra.
Miss Simpson said: “In his victim personal statement Simon Randles said that the situation has been going on for so long that it has affected his mental health, impacting on his normal day to day living and his job.
“He said that if he doesn’t respond to his mother’s messages she will ask some other people to contact him with messages of a similar nature. Mrs Randles was doing whatever she could to maximise fear and distress in her son. The defendant used threats of suicide to harass and emotionally abuse him.
“She used the picture of the knife for no other reason than to maximise the distress to the complainant. Mr Randles has requested a restraining order with one term - simply that she should not contact him by any means whatsoever.”
In mitigation for Mrs Randles, defence lawyer Howard Jones said: “This is a very very sad case - she has never been in a situation where she has had to come before the court.
“Mrs Randles has been struggling in the recent period with her son’s new relationship. He was a big support for his mother but he ultimately left the home address and she had difficulty coming to terms with that. She obviously felt very isolated and would say that the new girlfriend was preventing him going around and helping with anything. She was getting more isolated and depressed and was drinking.
“The catalyst for the offences before the court appears to me to be something that could have been avoided. She needed to have an app downloaded on her mobile phone to help her track her utility bills for the gas and electricity and she did not know how to do that.
“She wanted her son to install the app but he refused to do that and the result is that it was agreed that her brother would deal with this particular matter. ‘She waited outside her brother’s home but he would not her in.
“Simon Randles then turned up with his girlfriend and the defendant said, ‘right I will speak to the new girlfriend.’ The girlfriend tried to drive away but my client stood in front trying to prevent that happening. Simon Randles used a police restraint on his mother and she did struggle a bit and was trying to get him off her.
“It was very minor assault in my opinion. She didn’t want her son to come to court so she pleaded guilty. She is very frustrated by the whole situation.
“This is an isolated elderly lady at home with no previous convictions in a frustrating position. She has then sent some text messages which she has regretted thereafter. It is perhaps unfortunate that police had not spoken to Mrs Randles originally and given her a warning about the text messages before coming to the stage of being convicted of this offence.”
“A restraining order will be like a bullet to her heart, because that period will include Christmas.”
Mr Jones also said his client had received a card from her son on her recent 57th birthday added: “He has also sent a letter apologising within it, basically saying that these events should never have happened. She wants to be back in a relationship with her son on a mother and son level.”
Sentencing Randles, JP Michael Danaher told her: “This is a particularly serious set of circumstances.”
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