Photo: Castanet

A man who harassed his ex repeatedly while bound by a court order requiring he stay 100 metres away from her has been banished from Kamloops for three years.

Braedan Robert Michael Manning, 31, pleaded guilty Thursday in Kamloops provincial court to charges of harassment, obstructing a peace officer and breaching a court order.

Last November, Manning agreed to abide by the terms of a protection order requiring he stay away from his ex and abstain from alcohol. Within a few weeks, he was accused of violating it repeatedly.

Crown prosecutor Tim Livingston said Manning’s ex called police in December to report “almost daily” violations of the order. She said she saw Manning driving by her house, parking nearby and phoning her from unknown numbers.

The harassment intensified as time went on. On Jan. 16, the woman saw Manning drive by her North Kamloops home, and the next day she phoned police after seeing him standing at the bottom of her driveway.

Mounties arrived and found Manning passed out in his vehicle parked near the woman’s home. He smelled like booze and his nine-year-old daughter was crying in the back seat.

Livingston said Manning resisted police and “had to be dragged out” of the vehicle.

“He refused an ASD demand despite his daughter trying to convince him to do so,” he said.

In a victim-impact statement, the woman said she’s suffered anxiety since the incident and postponed a surgery out of fear it would leave her and her children “vulnerable” to Manning.

Defence lawyer John Gustafson said Manning has been sober since he was released from custody following his arrest in January. He’s living with his father in Alberta and working in the oilfield.

Livingston and Gustafson pitched a joint submission for an 18-month conditional sentence order to be followed by an 18-month period of probation, both with terms requiring Manning to stay away from Kamloops.

Livingston said he likely would have been seeking jail if Manning had not agreed to stay away from the city for so long.

“Because of his concession in that respect, the Crown has agreed to a conditional sentence, where the Crown might otherwise be seeking a jail sentence,” he said.

Kamloops provincial court Judge Lorianna Bennett went along with the joint submission, ordering Manning to spend the first six months of his conditional sentence order under house arrest, with an exception allowing him to work.

Manning will be barred from entering Kamloops city limits for three years, unless “in a moving vehicle on your way to some other place.”