Cousin of Fifty Shades of Grey actor Jamie Dornan convicted of harassing mother-in-law
A cousin of Fifty Shades of Grey actor Jamie Dornan has been convicted of harassing her mother-in-law, we can reveal.
Tara Stewart, a producer at BBC NI, was also convicted this week of persistent improper use of a telecommunication network 'for the purpose of causing annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety to another persistently'.
That charge was in relation to her ex-husband and she pleaded guilty to that offence.
However, at Ards Magistrates Court on Monday the 55-year-old mother of one took to the witness box to contest the charge of harassing her mother-in-law.
The charge was based on an email Stewart had sent. She argued, unsuccessfully, that it couldn't have been harassment as she only sent one email.
She also claimed she was the victim of a campaign of vengeance from her husband and others but a judge failed to accept her version of what appears to have been a long-running and nasty saga which had seen the couple in a custody battle of their child, which Tara Stewart lost.
Stewart — formerly Tara Aston Phillips — works for the BBC as a production assistant and has covered events including the tennis championships at Wimbledon.
As revealed earlier in this paper, she was initially accused of harassing her ex-husband but she pleaded not guilty to that count and the charge was withdrawn after she pleaded guilty to the 'persistent improper use of a telecommunication network' charge.
We can reveal she has continued to work for the BBC throughout the investigation and a number of people have made complaints to the corporation because she copied in her BBC email in some of the emails she sent.
Last a BBC spokesperson said: 'We don't comment on individual staffing matters.'
The Sunday World can also now reveal that Stewart was at loggerheads with a neighbour who lived in the same block of apartments in Bridge Road in the well-to-do Gold Coast village of Helen's Bay.
That neighbour told the Sunday World she had also gone to police and made complaints about being harassed by Tara Stewart and says Stewart made complaints to the police about her.
She eventually left her apartment because she says it all became extremely stressful.
She told us this week: 'The behaviour of this woman towards me made me feel frightened and vulnerable in my own home – something no-one should ever have to feel.'
Last October Stewart was warned by a judge after she failed to attend court.
District Judge Mark Hamill ordered that Stewart 'will attend this court and answer her bail'.
'She is on a charge sheet,' said the judge, warning that if she didn't attend Newtownards Magistrates Court in person on November 13, 'I will issue a warrant'.
During a previous hearing it was revealed there were '400-500 pages of texts' involved in the case. After being found guilty on the two counts on Monday, the judge issued an interim restraining order to be in place until the sentence hearing on August 18.
The terms of that order state she is forbidden from harassing either her ex-husband or his mum.
The court ordered: 'The defendant is forbidden to use or threaten violence against [names of ex and mother-in-law removed] and must not instruct/encourage or, in any way, suggest that any other person should do so. The defendant is forbidden to intimidate, harass or pester [names removed] and must not instruct, encourage or, in any way, suggest that any other person should do so.
'The defendant is forbidden to contact [names removed] either directly or indirectly.' The judge ordered pre-sentence reports and remanded Stewart on continuing bail.
Tara Stewart is a first cousin of movie star Dornan. Her mum is a sister of Jamie's father Jim Dornan, the famous obstetrician and gynaecologist who passed away in 2021.
Tara Stewart
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