Sheffield man jailed for breaching restraining order by writing malicious letters to his young children

As he passed sentence upon defendant, Stuart Muirhead, Judge Graham Reeds KC described how when the 44-year-old was made the subject of a 12-month restraining order against his ex-wife during a previous court hearing, he was informed that the ‘consequences’ of breaching it could include a custodial sentence of up to five years.

Despite this, Muirhead, of Winn Gardens, Middlewood, Sheffield, still proceeded to breach the order three times between September and October 2022, a ‘short time’ after it was imposed, Sheffield Crown Court heard during a hearing held on May 9, 2023.

Summarising Muirhead’s offending, Judge Reeds told the court: “[You breached the orders] by sending letters intending that your children would read them, rather than the person protected by the order.”

The court heard how Muirhead included court documents from previous sets of court proceedings, in which his ex-wife was the complainant, with some of the correspondence sent to his three young children.

In one of the letters, Muirhead wrote: ‘Your mother has been lying to you,’ which Judge Reeds suggested demonstrated that he had intended to cause harm to the complainant.

Prosecuting barrister, Oliver Connor, said that while the correspondence may not have been addressed to his ex-wife, he should have expected that his ex-wife may read it, given the young age of their children, with whom she resides.

After being arrested in connection with the three breaches of the restraining order, Muirhead assaulted two police officers in separate incidents, during which he spat at both officers.

Muirhead was subsequently charged with, and pleaded guilty to, three counts of breaching a restraining order and two counts of assaulting an emergency worker.

In a victim impact statement summarised by Mr Connor, Muirhead’s ex-wife said she was ‘tired’ of Muirhead’s ‘relentless contact’.

One of the officers assaulted by Muirhead said they did not expect to be assaulted or spat at in the course of their duties, trying to ‘uphold the law’.

The second officer declined to provide a statement to the court.

Mr Connor told the court that Muirhead has a criminal record of some 67 offences from 31 convictions, including previous convictions committed against his ex-wife.

Defending, Francis Edusei, said: “Mr Muirhead directed his letters at his children, obviously his ex-wife was bound to see them, and became troubled by them.”

Mr Edusei said that since being remanded into custody there had been a change in Muirhead’s character, he now appeared to be ‘far more mature than he was’ and was able to understand the ‘impact’ his actions had on his ex-wife.

Muirhead was taken into care at a ‘young age’ but has since been reunited with his parents, who have supported him and been present in court ‘on each and every occasion,’ Mr Edusei added.

Judge Reeds told Muirhead that ‘appropriate punishment could only be achieved’ through an immediate custodial sentence, and jailed him for 92 weeks.

He warned Muirhead that the restraining order to protect his ex-wife still remains in place, and he will end up in exactly the same position if he breaches it again.