A trans-identified male in Newcastle, England, has been charged after waging a campaign of harassment and abuse against his female neighbor. Andrew Fleming, who goes by the name Susan Hope, was referred to with “she/her” pronouns by the Newcastle Crown Court.
According to ChronicleLive, the harassment first began after his female neighbor, who has lived in the building with her husband for over 30 years, allowed Fleming to charge his phone when his electricity was out after he moved in last February.
Despite the woman’s efforts to be a good neighbor to the new tenant, Prosecutor Rachel Glover told the court that Fleming began tormenting her regularly, demanding more and more from her by way of favors.
“The defendant began knocking on their door at all hours, asking for her phone to be charged and for phone calls to be made on her behalf. (The woman) said she tried to be a good neighbour, but it got too much, and she began to say no and asked her to stop knocking on her door.”
In response, Glover explained that Fleming, who has autism and bipolar disorder, became combative and threatened her, saying: “I will remember this.”
Although 51-year-old Fleming was away from his home from February until June of 2023, he reportedly began harassing his neighbor shortly after his return. From June until August, Fleming tormented his neighbors, sometimes yelling through their door for hours. In multiple instances, after claiming to be locked out of his place, he violently banged on their door, demanding their assistance.
On June 29, after enjoying a meal out, the woman was horrified to learn that Fleming had been stalking her and was “standing across the road, staring at her,” which Glover informed the court she found extremely intimidating to the point where “she was terrified and returned home shaking.”
Several days later, after being berated for hours in the morning, the woman went to her car to leave, where Fleming continued to shout threats at her, including that he wanted to kill her and “punch her face in.”
“She could see the defendant standing at her front window with the window open, shouting at her. (The victim) was frightened, crying and shaking, and her husband called the police,” explained the prosecution.
“She is absolutely terrified of the defendant. It’s causing her distress all the time. She’s terrified of what they are capable of doing,” explained Glover, using gender neutral pronouns for Fleming. “It frightens her. She’s lived there more than 30 years with no issues but no longer feels safe and doesn’t want to live there anymore.”
Referring to the victim’s husband, Glover added: “It has made him feel anxious in his own home. He’s worried for his wife because of the threats made towards her. He has taken time off work. His wife doesn’t like to be in the address on her own, and he is constantly worried about what will happen.”
Fleming was arrested and taken to the police station where, despite assaulting a police officer, he was released on bail “with conditions not to contact the victims.”
Fleming, violating his bail conditions, continued to harass his neighbors, relentlessly knocking on their door and shouting verbal threats to the point where the victims had to install a ring doorbell. In an effort to calm her down, the woman’s husband would also drive her around town until she felt comfortable enough to return home.
Fleming’s lawyer, Shada Mellor, told the court that he had been previously detained under the Mental Health Act, which covers the assessment, treatment, and rights of people with a mental health disorder, and has served a 14-month pre-trial detention.
Although Fleming missed his sentencing hearing, he was sentenced to just over nine months in prison and was “given a restraining order not to contact the victims” after pleading guilty to harassment and assaulting a police officer.
Despite the courts referring to Fleming as a woman throughout the proceedings, as of February last year, the United Kingdom introduced new measures prohibiting transgender offenders who have male genitalia from serving their sentence in a women’s prison.
“Safety has to come first in our prisons and this new policy sets out a clear, common-sense approach to the housing of transgender prisoners,” explained Dominic Raab, the UK’s Deputy Prime Minister. “With these sensible new measures in place, transgender offenders who have committed sexual or violent crimes or retain male genitalia will not serve their sentence in a women’s prison, unless explicitly approved at the highest level.”
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