Suspended sentence for man who harassed Northamptonshire's chief constable

A man who impersonated Northamptonshire's chief constable in a phone call and sent him unwanted messages has been spared from prison for harassment.

Marcus Ambrose was given a suspended sentence after targeting Nick Adderley, a year after harassing two other Northamptonshire Police inspectors.

The 40-year-old, of Church Lane in Cransley near Kettering, appeared before magistrates in Wellingborough on December 18 to be sentenced after he was found guilty of pursuing a course of conduct which amounted to the harassment of the county's police boss.

Between October and December in 2019 he made unwanted contacted by email and text messages and impersonated him in a phone call to the Office of the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner.

Ambrose admitted a separate charge of improper use of an electronic communications network over an email he sent in March 2020 which had the subject Re: Nick Adderley, which was "grossly offensive or of an indecent, obscene or menacing character". He had earlier denied the offence before changing his plea to guilty.

The month before he sent the email he was sentenced to a conditional discharge after he was convicted of harassing two other police officers in 2018 by making repeated phone calls after being told not to contact them.

Last month magistrates sentenced Ambrose to a total of 17 weeks in prison but suspended the jail term for 24 months.

They granted a restraining order restricting Ambrose's contact with police indefinitely.

Under the order he is banned from making any contact with Nick Adderley, banned from contacting any police officer or member of police staff in England or Wales unless reporting an emergency or crime through a police control room, and banned from contacting any Police Professional Standards Department in England or Wales over complaints which had been finalised.

He is also banned from making any post or comment which identifies any police officer or member of police staff on any social media platform, and banned from making any post or comment on social media platforms relating to Nick Adderley.

Breaching the restraining order is a separate criminal offence.

Ambrose was ordered to pay costs of £1,000 and a surcharge to fund victim services of £122.

Northamptonshire Police declined to comment.