A MAN has been spared jail for messaging a woman who claimed he had sexually assaulted her in a bid to have her drop the charges.

Stuarts Wands, from Latchford, had been accused of sexually assaulting the woman who he begged to retract the ‘stupid’ claims against him.

On Monday, May 21, he was spared an immediate prison sentence at Chester Crown Court after being found guilty of attempting to pervert the course of justice.

The court heard that Wands, of Grange Avenue, was acquitted of two counts of sexual assault in February this year.

But he had earlier contacted the complainant over the internet, urging her to retract her claims.

His Facebook message, sent after Wands had been charged in April 2016, said: “Hey hun, I’m sorry for contacting you at this inappropriate time.

“Can you please drop this stupid case that you have over my head?

“What are we going to achieve by this?

“We’re never going to see each other again anyway.”

The 28-year-old was described in court as an ‘informal patient’ at Lea Court Treatment and Recovery Centre, an independent mental health hospital in Dallam, who has a ‘complex psychiatric history’.

And recorder Eric Lamb spared Wands from being sent to prison for what he described as being a ‘serious offence struck against the administration of justice’.

Sentencing, recorder Lamb said: “This message clearly placed pressure on the complainant with the intent of getting her to retract the allegation against you - she was approached over the internet in what could be described as her home space.

“You were interfering with the course of justice, and that is a serious offence.

“With all these factors in mind I can conclude that the offence for which you were convicted is so serious that only a custodial sentence may be justified for it, but there is a realistic prospect of rehabilitation which has been demonstrated over the period of the past two years.

“There is outstanding and strong personal mitigation, and references written for you indicate the useful and helpful work you have carried out for the community within the limits of your abilities.

“Due to these factors, an immediate custodial sentence would set back your recovery substantially - that would have a harmful impact upon society as a whole, and this is a case where it would be appropriate to suspend the necessary prison sentence.

“If you commit any further offences within the next 12 months then you may be ordered to serve part or all of this sentence.”

Wands - who had no previous convictions - was handed a 20-week imprisonment suspended for a year by recorder Lamb, and was also ordered to pay a victim surcharge.