Campaign of “foul, aggressive” voice messages left solicitor fearing violence and intimidation
A former mental health nurse from Dover has been spared prison after being convicted of harassing a solicitor through a campaign of threatening and abusive voice messages that left his victim fearing for his safety.
Christopher Childs, 51, sent a string of “foul and aggressive” recordings to solicitor Ian Chivers after becoming angered by adverse court rulings in family and probate disputes stretching back several years.
A psychiatrist described Childs as showing traits of a “resentful stalker”. A jury at Canterbury Crown Court unanimously found him guilty of putting Mr Chivers in fear of violence through harassment.
The court heard that Childs, of Godwyne Close, Dover, had already been made subject to a civil injunction in 2022 over his behaviour towards Mr Chivers, who worked for the law firm Stilwell & Singleton. Despite the order, he sent six voice messages between November 2022 and May 2023.
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Prosecutor Helena Khullar said the messages were filled with abusive language and anger, leaving the solicitor alarmed and afraid that Childs might track him down. Mr Chivers told police he feared the harassment could escalate into physical violence and that he worried for his family and colleagues.
Childs’s grievances stemmed from earlier court cases — one concerning the custody of his daughter in 2016, and another involving the division of his late mother’s estate. On both occasions, Mr Chivers had represented Childs’s ex-partner and his mother’s partner, respectively.
Although the civil order had barred Childs from contacting or approaching the solicitor, he ignored it. The court was told that his messages were “vile and threatening”, causing Mr Chivers to fear that the harassment, or worse, would come to his door.
Recorder John Bate-Williams, who presided over the trial, said he retained a clear recollection of the “foul and aggressive” tone of the recordings. He told Childs: “Your behaviour caused Mr Chivers to fear violence, and you knew, or ought to have known, that your behaviour would cause him to fear personal harm. It was inevitable he would fear for his safety — that was your clear purpose.”
Childs had previous convictions for harassment, breaching restraining orders, and once taking an unloaded air rifle to his solicitor’s office. When interviewed by police, he admitted being the voice on the recordings but denied any intent to cause harm.
Appearing via video link from Elmley Prison, where he had been held since May, Childs told the court he had “no intention to cause any fear or harm”.
In a statement, Mr Chivers said he had grown wary of entering Dover or going to work because of Childs’s unpredictable behaviour, adding that he believed “nothing will stop him.”
Defending, Avirup Chaudhuri argued that Childs’s messages, while unpleasant, had not escalated to physical violence or direct confrontation. He said the defendant had lived a productive life until his first conviction at 42, working in mental health and contributing to the community.
The defence urged the judge to impose a community-based sentence, warning that imprisonment would cause Childs to lose his council home and his possessions, including his mother’s ashes. Mr Chaudhuri said further detention could worsen his client’s mental health and “increase his sense of injustice.”
The court heard Childs may suffer from a personality disorder or psychosis and had completed rehabilitation and trauma management courses while in custody.
Recorder Bate-Williams sentenced him to 12 months in prison, suspended for 18 months, with 20 rehabilitation activity requirements. He imposed an indefinite restraining order banning any contact with Mr Chivers or any Stilwell & Singleton offices in Dover, Deal, and Sandwich.
As the sentence was delivered, Childs interrupted the hearing, accusing Mr Chivers of lying under oath and vowing to report him to regulatory authorities. The judge warned that any breach would lead to immediate imprisonment of three to four years.
“This is your final chance,” Recorder Bate-Williams told him. “If you let yourself down again, the sentence you can expect will be far longer.”