Lord Chancellor's son sentenced to 16 months for stalking woman
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Your support makes all the difference.Alastair Irvine, the 25-year-old son of Lord Irvine, the Lord Chancellor, was sentenced to 16 months in prison yesterday after pleading guilty to six stalking, vandalism and gun charges arising from his pursuit of a 19-year-old woman.
Mr Irvine's lawyers arranged a plea deal with prosecutors in Orange County, south of Los Angeles, sparing him and his family the indignity of a full trial and leaving him with a sentence well below the 15-year maximum.
The judge offered no extraneous comment during yesterday's 30-minute hearing at the Orange County Superior Court in Newport Beach, and Mr Irvine himself said nothing. He simply smiled as he was led away from the courtroom.
Mr Irvine, who has a history of drug problems, has been in custody at the Orange County jail since his arrest on 24 June. The young woman he met in a tanning salon, Nicole Healy, accused him of hounding her, making threats with a gun and pouring acid on her boyfriend's truck.
He was offered bail by the court but forced to remain behind bars by US immigration authorities. He will serve his remaining 12 months at a state prison, probably in southern California. His lawyer, James Riddet, told reporters he would be deported as soon as his sentence was over.
Mr Irvine came to the States to undergo rehab for crack-cocaine addiction. After attending clinics in the Midwest and San Diego, he settled in Orange County, where he became a fitness fanatic, frequenting gyms in coastal towns including Newport Beach. That is where he met Ms Healy and her boyfriend, Karel Taska.
According to the prosecution, he became obsessed with Ms Healy in early June, and poured acid on Mr Taska's Dodge truck on 6 June. A few days later he is alleged to have confronted the couple in the tanning salon, opened his jacket to reveal a handgun, and told Mr Taska that the next acid attack would be on his face.
Since his arrest, Mr Irvine has been described by psychiatrists as emotionally fragile and possibly suicidal, although he has always appeared in court looking fit and healthy. His psychological profile will probably determinewhere he serves his sentence.
The case has caused a sensation in the British tabloids. Tony Blair, Lord Irvine and other government officials have done everything possible to avoid turning the affair into a political scandal. Mr Irvine's lawyer was contracted privately, and government agencies, including the British consulate-general in Los Angeles, have kept their distance from the case.
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