A DISGRACED former police official who stalked his mistress in a month-long campaign of revenge after she broke off their affair has avoided prison.

‘Sinister’ Nick Harverson, 58, who was head of corporate support for Thames Valley Police, was convicted of stalking his ex-lover Charlotte Roberts, after their affair ended in October last year.

At Oxford Magistrates’ Court yesterday the married man was handed a community order and ordered to carry out 120 hours unpaid work by District Judge Tim Pattinson.

Sentencing Harverson, of Hollow Furlong, Cassington, Judge Pattinson said: “Your actions did cause a great deal of anxiety and distress to Ms Roberts. The letter sent was particularly nasty.

“When you went to her flat and put a key in the door, she describes herself as being terrified of what you might do. She was particularly concerned when you appeared at the roadside and seemed to know what her working hours were. In short, she felt this was a form of manipulation and that’s a view I agree with.”

Ms Roberts, who is the executive assistant to police and crime commissioner Anthony Stansfeld, said she had made it clear she wanted only a friendship.

The relationship, which lasted 18 months, flared after they met at their workplace at the force headquarters in Kidlington.

When he was dumped by Ms Roberts, Harverson sent a bitter letter to her, which he signed ‘you are an evil person.’

Elaine Kale, prosecuting, read from a victim personal statement from Ms Roberts, who said she had been ‘affected to the core’ by Harverson’s actions. It added Ms Roberts was seeking counselling for anxiety and depression.

The statement said: “I am constantly on alert and I fear he might turn up.

“I should be able to relax at home but I feel like it is a prison.”

Ms Roberts said that during his trial Harverson gave details of their relationship and claimed she was seeing other people.

She added: “I feel like I have a reputation as a sexual beast. My reputation has been tarnished.

“I despise him. I rue the day we met and I wish I could turn the clock back.”

Judge Pattinson said Harverson needed ‘punishment rather than rehabilitation’.

Harverson was convicted in June of a single charge of stalking without causing fear or alarm between November 16 and December 22, 2016. He was handed a restraining order and ordered to pay £2,500 costs and an £85 victim surcharge.