Librarian, 62, honoured by the Queen coerced a colleague into cheating on her partner so she’d keep her job – before stalking and bombarding her with texts and emails when she broke off their affair

• The ordeal left her afraid to leave her house and suffering from panic attacks

A senior librarian, who was honoured by the Queen, coerced a colleague into cheating on her partner so that she could keep her job – before stalking her when she broke it off with him.

Richard Ashman, 62, subjected fellow librarian Catherine Brear to a two-year campaign of harassment as he bombarded her with texts and emails following the end of their four-year affair, Southampton Crown Court heard.

Ashman would turn up at her work unannounced, deliberately cycle past her in the street, and threatened to reveal their affair to the woman she was in a long-term relationship with.

The ordeal left Miss Brear afraid to leave her house and suffering from panic attacks, the court heard. She said a restraining order would make her feel less afraid and might allow her to resume normal life.

Ashman, who was commended by the late Queen Elizabeth II via a British Empire Medal in recognition of his ‘service to Further Education’, has now been handed a suspended jail sentence. The judge also handed the senior librarian, who admitted a charge of stalking, a restraining order.

Richard Ashman, 62, subjected a fellow librarian to a two-year campaign of harassment as he bombarded her with texts and emails following the end of their four-year affair

Miss Brear and Ashman met in 2008 when she started working at Shirley Library in Southampton which he supervised. Their affair started at the end of 2012.

Tim Devlin, prosecuting, said: ‘Miss Brear thought her job was at risk and Mr Ashman alluded that if she started a relationship with him, she would keep her job.’

Ashman remained her supervisor until April 2015.

Mr Devlin continued: ‘That relationship went on towards the end of 2016 by which point Mr Ashman tried to blackmail her into keeping the relationship.’

After their affair ended, Ashman, who became the city’s Central Library Manager, went out of his way to visit Shirley Library – where she worked – which ‘made her feel uncomfortable’.

Mr Devlin said Ashman ‘then started to send her emails and texts and she felt he was going to reveal the affair’.

He said Ashman sent several unwanted emails, many of which were of a sexual nature and he repeatedly turned up at her home and workplace.

Miss Brear eventually told her partner about the affair but Ashman’s behaviour continued, Southampton Crown Court heard.

 Catherine Brear (pictured) said she was too afraid to leave the house – the judge said she was living in an ‘invisible cage’

Mr Devlin said: ‘In March 2021, she told her manager about the affair. [Her manager] sent Ashman an email with her copied in, requesting he would leave her alone but his stalking continued.

‘He was seen shortly after, looking through the bush in her front garden.

‘There was Ring [doorbell camera] footage of a figure matching Mr Ashton leaving packages on the front doorstep.

‘She often, on the way to work, would see him cycling past on his bicycle.’

Ashman admitted leaving roses and gifts for her on her birthday.

Mr Devlin continued: ‘Miss Brear said she was very frightened and often has panic attacks.

‘Mr Ashman was beyond an age where really, he should know better.’

In a victim impact statement read to the court, Miss Brear wrote: ‘This whole incident has left me feeling very nervous when I am alone in the house. I am afraid Richard may be there.

‘I am particularly afraid when walking in public at the hours of darkness.

‘I do not go out in the day when I am on my own because I am too afraid.

‘I believe that a restraining order would make me feel less afraid and allow me to resume my normal life.’

Judge Christopher Parker handed Ashman a 15 months jail sentence, suspended for 18 months at Southampton Crown Court

Ashman admitted a single charge of stalking lead to serious harm and distress, between November 1, 2019, and January 31, 2022.

His lawyer told the court the divorcee ‘had a background of helping others’ and he and his ex-wife had acted as foster carers for many years.

Keely Harvey, mitigating, said he would take in children ‘that had been damaged through birth or through what their parents had done to them’.

In 2021 whilst working as a Library Co-ordinator at City College, Southampton, Ashman received a New Year’s Honour from the Queen for ‘his service to Further Education’.

Mrs Harvey said that following the breakdown of his relationship with Miss Brear, Ashman was a man who ‘didn’t realise what he was doing’.

Judge Christopher Parker handed Ashman a 15 months jail sentence, suspended for 18 months and said his behaviour meant Miss Brear was living in an ‘invisible cage’. 

He added: ‘What you did for such a long time caused really substantial psychological harm.

‘What that means is there wasn’t an hour when they weren’t looking over their shoulder.

‘One can only hope that you recognise now how distressing and frightening that behaviour can be.

‘If this had just been going on for a month, or a couple weeks, the harm would have been substantially less but it wasn’t – it went on for nearly two years.’

Ashman was also ordered to carry out 180 hours of community service and given a restraining order banning him from being within 150 yards of his victim. 

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