A NEWPORT man has been jailed for more than two years after a "sinister" campaign of harassment culminated in a sexual assault in the city centre.

Gregory Gair, 36, of Bishton Street in Newport was sentenced at Cardiff Crown Court on Thursday, after pleading guilty to two counts of harassment, one of threats to kill and another of sexual assault.

The court heard how he had met his victim via a dating app.

She had later decided that she did not want to pursue the relationship and Gair seemed to accept this decision.

However, the prosecution said that soon after he began to “literally bombard” her with messages.

He used various means to contact her, becoming “incessant”.

The complainant received more than 30 video calls on one occasion.

The court heard how the messages became more sinister.

Gair told his victim that he had employed people to follow her and threatened to petrol bomb her house.

He sent pictures of guns and knives, which he said he owned, and told her he had essentially hired a hitman.

He would send voice messages, speaking in a Northern Irish accent to mask his voice and pose as someone else in his employ.

However, the accent would falter and his voice was recognised by the complainant.

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The court was shown CCTV footage of Newport city centre on September 4, 2021, showing Gair lunging at his victim and persistently trying to put his hand up her dress.

The victim and her friends saw someone they knew from school who worked at an establishment in the city centre. That person, along with other members of the public, restrained Gair until the police arrived.

His response to being shown the footage during the subsequent police interview was “well that ain’t good, is it?”

The prosecution read the court a victim impact statement, which said that the complainant “felt disgusted and shocked” by what had happened.

“I spent the rest of the night crying with my friends,” she said.

“Men should not do what that man did to me that night.”

Summing up, the judge said that Mr Gair had “developed a fantasy and became obsessive about it”.

Gair was told that within a short space of time, his messages had become “sinister”.

“It’s clear that the intensity of your messaging her was at the highest level,” the judge said.

He branded the nature of Gair’s harassment “appalling and gruesome”.

Gair was sentenced to 27 months imprisonment for both counts of harassment, to be served concurrently.

He was sentenced to 22 months imprisonment on the charge of threats to kill, to be served concurrently with the previous sentence.

He was also sentenced to seven weeks imprisonment on the charge of sexual assault, which again was to be served concurrently.

Gair shook his head and gestured in disbelief as the sentences were read out.

Additionally, the judge imposed a sexual harm prevention order – to last five years.

Under the order, the defendant would be prohibited from:

  • Using any device able to access the internet unless it logs the history of usage;
  • Deleting that history of usage;
  • Failing to make that device available unlocked to the authorities when requested;
  • Using software such as incognito mode or private browsing;
  • Possessing a device capable of storing images (moving or still) unless the authorities have access to it.

Gair was also slapped with a restraining order – also to last five years.

This prevents the defendant from:

  • Contacting the complainant directly or indirectly;
  • Posting or commenting about her on social media;
  • Going within 100 metres of her place of residence or employment.

Gair must also pay a victim surcharge of £190 and, due to the sexual assault conviction, be required to register with police for seven years.