Gateshead man who scrawled sex messages to women jailed

Jeffrey Burke was jailed for two years

A man who scrawled sexually explicit messages on women's homes and told one victim he liked to watch her in the shower has been jailed.

Jeffrey Burke, 52, targeted nine women in Gateshead with "sexually-motivated abuse", Northumbria Police said.

He carried on offending even after being arrested and placed on bail, the force added.

He was jailed for two years at Newcastle Crown Court after admitting 13 offences including stalking.

Police said Burke first came to their attention in 2020 when they received a "flurry of complaints" from women living in Bensham and St James' Village who were "being targeted by" an unknown man who would scrawl sexually explicit phrases on their property and leave ladies' underwear on their vehicles.

One victim also reported a "terrifying" ordeal in which Burke rang her intercom and told her he "liked to watch her getting in and out of the shower" and would tap on her windows in the early hours, the force said.

Jeffrey Burke was caught on CCTV holding a pen outside a house in breach of an order made when he was arrested

Officers found all offences were being carried out in the early hours of the morning and immediately began a trawl of CCTV which identified Burke.

Burke was interviewed and later released under investigation with an interim sexual risk order put in place which prevented him from entering parts of Gateshead and being on any private property without the owner's permission and carrying marker pens in public.

But shortly after he left more handwritten notes on women's cars and he stole women's underwear from washing lines, the force said.

Burke, of Fern Dene Road in Gateshead, was also issued with lifetime restraining orders against all of his victims after admitting 13 offences including multiple breaches of his sexual risk order, criminal damage and stalking.

Speaking after the sentencing, Sgt Elliott Richardson said Burke posed a danger to women, adding: "The terror and fear these women endured is something no one should ever have to experience.

"Some suffered from paranoia and were terrified they were going to be sexually assaulted; some changed their entire routine for fear of being watched, and others were left feeling completely vulnerable."