This is the chilling moment a woman’s former boss was caught on CCTV scrawling the word BITCH on the side of her car in a bitter revenge attack.
Footage shows Christopher Stanton, 59, approaching the silver Volkswagen Golf, before painting the abusive word across the vehicle’s passenger-side windows.
Suzanne Brogan, 49, of Kettering, Northants., was left stunned when she discovered the insult on her car on December 29, 2014.
The corporate sales manager was then “terrified” when Stanton returned a month later to douse the car in red paint, which was again caught on camera.
The pair worked together at Welcomm Communications in Market Harborough, Leics., – which he founded in 1989 – for five-and-a-half years.
However, their relationship turned sour when Miss Brogan was suddenly sacked in December 2013.
She took Stanton to an employment tribunal claiming unfair dismissal and was awarded £33,500 in damages.
Earlier this year Stanton was convicted of two counts of criminal damage when he appeared at Northampton Magistrates’ Court.
He was ordered to pay fines of £4,615 and received a restraining order banning him from contacting his victim.
He immediately launched an appeal but dropped it on October 6 – just two days before the case was due to be heard.
Expressing her relief that he had finally dropped his appeal, Mrs Brogan said: “I couldn’t believe it when I saw the car.
“The whole thing is almost just too far-fetched to believe.
“I just woke up that morning, and I had ‘bitch’ written on the side of my car.
“Because I live in the middle of town, I thought that it might have been kids as well, especially as it was that silly season between Christmas and New Year.
“So I went up and looked at all of the other cars to see if anyone else had been targeted but no, it was just me.
“I really hoped that it was just some silly drunken incident, but feared the worst.
“I thought it might have been someone from Welcomm because of the animosity following my dismissal, but I didn’t know that it was Stanton himself.
“When the pin dropped and I realised that it was him, I just couldn’t believe it at all. It was jaw dropping.
“I’m not a shrinking violet, as you could imagine, but I was scared.
“I viewed the CCTV, slowed it right down and recognised his walk, even though he was wearing a disguise, because he had a distinctive walk.
“That was why the CPS didn’t push the charges, because there wasn’t enough of a distinction to his walk.
“About seven days before my husband and I jetted off to our honeymoon in Thailand, he painted the car a second time so I had to employ a security company to check on the house to make sure that he didn’t burn it down.
“In March 2015 Northamptonshire Police sent five officers over to Market Harborough to arrest him, but he’d gone on holiday.
“The CPS were just shocking during the whole thing.
“The police sent him a court summons to appear in court, then the CPS dropped the charges.
“I appealed against the decision and had to appeal again afterwards.
“I met with two prosecutors from London where an interview was recorded for around two-and-a-half hours.
“I had to go through everything, and detailed things about his distinctive walk, the way he moved his hand and how he held the paintbrush. They were all his mannerisms.
“After the whole thing, they decided that yes, there was enough to prosecute, and we went ahead with the case which happened on January 13.
“Afterwards I went off to New York for a few days to get my head together, and then came back to the devastating news that he’d appealed against the conviction and we’d have to go through the whole thing again.
“We were due to appear back in court on October 9, but on October 6 I heard from Northampton Court services that he’d actually dropped the appeal.
“I think he realised that the evidence was too compelling.
“The more he resisted the conviction, the more I wanted him to get done for it.
“I was just over the moon when he finally dropped the appeal and accepted the conviction.
“I’d spend so long fighting for that, and it was an enormous relief.”
