Woman stalked ex, cut his back and pretended to be his estranged daughter

North Wales Live

10-07-2025

A woman cut her former partner's back and pretended to be his estranged relative after their relationship ended. Mercedes Harper was convicted of stalking but a judge heard she has mental health issues.
He gave the defendant, 31, of St David's Crescent, Caia Park, Wrexham, a 13-month jail term, suspended for 18 months, for stalking. He also banned her from contacting her former partner for 10 years.
Caernarfon Crown Court heard Harper had been friends with the victim and things sometimes went further but he ended their relationship. You can sign up for all the latest court stories here
Prosecutor Amy Edwards described a series of incidents over six months in 2023. On one occasion Harper was behind him on the stairs and he realised she had cut his back.
On another occasion he heard the sound of what he thought was a ladder outside his property. He couldn't see anything but then heard stones being thrown.
He looked out and saw the defendant Harper outside. He rang police.
The court also heard today that Harper had sent him text messages pretending to be his estranged daughter, and set up false Facebook profiles.
One message to him was "When I see you, you're a dead man." Police seized Harper's phone and found a voicemail message from Harper accusing the victim of seeing other women.
In a police interview on October 22, 2023 Harper claimed the complainant had assaulted her and denied committing any offences, the court heard. John Wyn Williams, defending, called Harper "a troubled young woman".
Past trauma has had an impact on her mental health, he said. He noted a pre-sentence report found she has "emotionally unstable personality disorder".
The report author called for ongoing help from a community mental health team but said there was a realistic prospect of rehabilitation. The judge His Honour Timothy Petts said: "You used to be friends with (the victim) and occasionally it went further than that.
"When he ended that side of things you took it badly. You created fake Facebook accounts in his name...and pretended to be his estranged daughter in text messages which was quite a nasty thing to do."
He gave Harper the suspended sentence for 12 months for stalking and for one month consecutively from a previous offence. He ordered her to do 15 days of rehabilitation activity.
The judge also made her subject to a Domestic Abuse Protection Order for 10 years.