A persistent stalker has been jailed for breaching a life-time restraining order which prevents him harassing his female victim.
Elliot Fogel, 40, was found guilty of breaching the order by issuing a libel claim against 38-year-old therapist Claire Waxman and of storing information about her.
Fogel was described at Harrow Crown Court as a “compulsive, obsessive stalker who has made Ms Waxman’s life miserable for 12 years or more”.
Judge Graham Arran jailed him on Tuesday for three years and six months.
Referring to Fogel’s repeat offending, Judge Arran said: “One can only imagine what appalling and miserable effect your actions have had on the complainant."
The judge ordered Fogel's use of technology be limited to protect Ms Waxman. He will have to provide serial numbers and passwords to all computers and mobile phones he owns, and notify police of his internet service provider.
A restraining order already in place has been extended to prevent Fogel issuing civil proceedings against Ms Waxman, of Willesden, north west London, and her family without permission of the court.
A jury had earlier heard how the stalker pursued a High Court libel case against Ms Waxman, who he knew from college, as a means of harassing her. He claimed that Ms Waxman, now a campaigner, had libelled him in interviews.
But prosecutor Rufus D’Cruz told the court that Fogel’s case was “a dishonest and devious means to continue a campaign of harassment by manipulating the civil court process and bringing a bogus and baseless action to cause Ms Waxman and her family distress and alarm”.
The restraining order was imposed on Fogel in 2005 after a conviction for making silent phone calls to Ms Waxman. He was then banned indefinitely from contacting her or accessing information about her.
Since then, Fogel has breached the order five times, serving two prison sentences. He was first jailed in 2010 after personal data about Ms. Waxman and her family was found on his PC.
She told a court then that her ordeal caused her to suffer a miscarriage.
“My life has been ruined by this man in so many ways. He has no respect for me, my family or the law. He is a potential danger to society and me,” she said at the time
Fogel began using the civil courts to harass Ms Waxman in 2010. He was brought to trial as a result but the case was dropped by the CPS.
The stalker’s civil claim to prevent Ms Waxman trying to section him was eventually thrown out as being “wholly without merit”.
In 2012 Fogel was imprisoned for two years after being found in his car outside Ms Waxman’s workplace. He started the High Court case after being released.
Ms Waxman's family declined to comment after the sentencing.
Detective Constable Daniel Candler of Barnet Borough Police said, "I hope that this outcome will bring Mr Fogel's stalking to an end and send out a clear message that deliberately misusing civil litigation to harass and stalk victims, can and will be subject to criminal investigation."
To get more news, click here to sign up for our free daily newsletter.