Met Police officer who bombarded ex-girlfriend with 770 messages sentenced for stalking
Pc Ben Bunsell was convicted of one count of stalking
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A Metropolitan Police officer has been found guilty of stalking his ex-girlfriend in the weeks after the couple split up.
Pc Ben Bunsell, attached to the Central South Command Unit, denied but was convicted of one count of stalking without fear, alarm or distress between June 23 and July 28 this year while off-duty.
Over the course of a one-day trial at City of London Magistrates’ Court, it was alleged the 40-year-old “tormented” Natalie Jundo by persistently contacting her – messaging, emailing and calling her after they ended their relationship.
District judge Briony Clarke found him guilty of the offence on Tuesday and said his actions “collectively amount to harassment” and that the conduct is “associated with stalking”.
Bunsell sent more than 770 messages to Ms Jundo – some of them labelled “very unpleasant” by the judge, made a series of phone calls using a withheld number and sent emails to her using an unknown address, prosecutor Jason Seetal told the court.
It was really stressful, but when he started, what I thought was him coming around the house, then it started to get frightening
It was alleged that he attended her home address on June 30 after Ms Jundo’s Ring doorbell camera recorded a person twice passing her front gate at around 2am, whom she believed was Bunsell.
The officer denied it was him and the judge said she could not be sure of the identity and therefore did not take it into account when convicting Bunsell.
Ms Jundo, giving evidence behind a screen to block her from her former partner’s view, said: “It was really interfering with everything … because either the phone constantly calling or messages and emails to the point where I couldn’t use my phone.
“It just really tormented me,” she added.
Bunsell and Ms Jundo met in December 2021 on a dating website on Facebook and broke up after entering into a relationship, before getting back together early this year.
They split up again on June 22.
Ms Jundo responded to some of the defendant’s messages in the wake of their break-up this summer, telling him to stop contacting her, before going on to block him on various messaging platforms, the court heard.
District judge Clarke said Ms Jundo made it “abundantly clear” that the relationship was over.
The judge also rejected the suggestion that the fact of Ms Jundo’s responses clashed against her claim she was experiencing harassment.
Bunsell continued to make contact through email and calls using unknown or withheld numbers, the prosecutor said.
I believed ... that she just needed a bit of space
Ms Jundo contacted the police on July 3 and the defendant was arrested the next day, but was not charged and was bailed with a condition not to contact her.
On July 25, Ms Jundo received an email from an unknown address, under the name “Greg”, wishing her a happy birthday.
Following an exchange of responses, a phone number was given and, when Ms Jundo rang it, the defendant picked up, the prosecution said.
The court heard the emails were traced to the IP address of the wifi at Bunsell’s mother’s address, where he was living, but the defendant denied sending them, claiming “a lot of people have my number”.
The judge said she “cannot fathom” how it could be “anyone other than the defendant”.
Giving evidence, Bunsell told the court he did not believe the messages he was sending to Ms Jundo after they split amounted to harassment.
Asked why, he said: “Because of the pattern of the behaviour with Natalie prior to this. Within 24 hours, 48 hours, we would be back talking.
“I believed … that she just needed a bit of space.”
He told the court he was “hurting” and “just wanted to say my piece” and also said he sent messages to simply try to get his belongings back from her home.
Bunsell accepted that he attempted to call Ms Jundo around 20 times in the space of one day in June and also accepted he made calls from a withheld number.
He denied that he was obsessed with Ms Jundo, that he refused to let the relationship end and that he ever stalked her.
Bunsell, of Greenwich, was suspended from duty after he was charged and the Met Police said its Directorate of Professional Standards was made aware.
He was bailed with conditions not to contact Ms Jundo and not to enter the London borough of Barking and Dagenham ahead of his sentencing on January 18 at Westminster Magistrates’ Court.