A Northwich man who bombarded a council with thousands of emails accusing officers and councillors of crime and misconduct has had an anti-harassment injunction made against him.

High Court judge Mr Justice Edis said Robert Pickthall, of Davenham, had intended to cause ‘distress’ with his campaign of ‘abuse’ against Chester West and Cheshire Council.

In a hearing in London earlier this month, the judge heard of the thousands of emails which Mr Pickthall has sent, on top of publishing numerous allegations on his website.

Lawyers for the council, together with two employees and two councillors, had asked him to make an anti-harassment injunction to protect them from further conduct.

'Obsessed and exhilarated'

Giving judgment today (Thursday, July 23), Mr Justice Edis made the injunction and dealt out stinging criticism of Mr Pickthall’s actions.

“It appears to me that he has become obsessed and perhaps even exhilarated by his ability to cause distress by repeating long dead allegations over and over again,” he said.

“By accusing each new recipient of corruption if they do not immediately do whatever it is he asks of them, he widens the scope of his campaign to include people who have nothing to do with it.

“He has long since ceased to apply any rational judgment of any kind in deciding what to do.

'He simply wants to cause harm'

“On the evidence as it stands now, it appears probable to me that he simply wants to cause harm. I consider that it is likely that he is succeeding.

“Elected politicians and public officials must be subject to proper public scrutiny, but this is not unlimited.

“They are not helped in discharging their public functions by having to deal with vitriolic abuse addressed directly to them and published widely to the world at large.

“This is distressing, as the defendant knows: that is why he does it.”

The court heard Mr Pickthall’s allegations began after a dispute with his landlord in 2010.

It continued after he moved to Butchers Stile Playing Field, where he became concerned about the location of a road passing over the land.

Council responds

Following the judge’s comments, Steve Robinson, chief executive of Cheshire West and Chester Council, said: “The council will not tolerate harassment of its officers or members and is committed to taking protective action where appropriate.

“These proceedings were brought because of an excessive and persistent campaign brought by Mr Pickthall which has involved persistently vitriolic communications and posts by him.

“The council took legal action following Mr Pickthall’s rejection in January 2015 of the council’s proposal that he gives suitable undertakings not to harass officers or members. The council welcomes the judgment and is pleased that the court has considered it appropriate to impose restrictions on Mr Pickthall.”