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A serial stalker has been jailed for harassing the health professional who tried to help her.
Nicola Anne Youngs, 36, was sentenced to nine months in prison when she appeared in the Auckland District Court last week for breaching numerous court orders against her.
Judge Edward Paul rejected defence submissions for Youngs to be placed under intensive supervision instead of prison, saying her behaviour was threatening, dangerous and caused "extreme fear" in the victim.
Suppression orders prevent the publication of the victim's name, address and occupation. But the woman told the Herald on Sunday she had never experienced "anything like it" during 26 years working in mental health.
In a case of unrequited lesbian love, Youngs was being counselled by the victim but the professional relationship ended on a sour note.
"Obviously it did not end for you," Judge Paul noted to Youngs in the dock during sentencing.
A trespass notice was ordered against Youngs last September, followed by a non-association order in January and a restraining order in May.
The next day, Youngs drove to the North Shore and made three calls from a payphone to the victim's home - at 3.58pm, 3.59pm and 4pm.
She then twice called her workplace from a cellphone, drank some vodka and drove to the woman's house.
Youngs then scaled a 2.1m-high wooden fence before she was discovered hiding in the garden by the victim's female partner, who tackled Youngs to the ground.
Police were called and separated the trio.
Diagnosed with a borderline personality disorder, Youngs was "crying out for help" after becoming emotionally dependent on the victim, said defence lawyer Karen Harding.
She said Youngs was battling suicidal thoughts and self-harm, would not have offended but for her mental illness and was not a "true criminal".
Harding said her client, who has lived in New Zealand for 10 years after emigrating from Britain, needed rehabilitation rather than prison.
However, Judge Paul said there was a high risk of Youngs re-offending against the victim - who described the nine-month saga as a "terrible nightmare" - and a prison term would deter her from stalking.
He sentenced Youngs to nine months imprisonment after her early guilty pleas to the nine charges, but refused home detention because of the risk of reoffending.
Instead, Judge Paul imposed special conditions on her release, including an alcohol-abuse programme and regular appointments at a mental health clinic.
