Woman jailed after sending pig’s head to ex-boyfriend

Tia McBean also sent abusive text messages and ordered pizzas to ex’s home

Tia McBean has been sentenced to 15 months in jail (PA)

A woman who sent her ex-boyfriend a pig’s head during a prolonged stalking campaign has been jailed.

Tia McBean, 23, fell pregnant during a short relationship with Oralton Robinson after they met in May 2018, Woolwich Crown Court heard.

After they split up, McBean sent abusive text messages, knocked on Mr Robinson’s door late at night, ordered pizzas to his home, left notes and at times made more than 100 phone calls a day.

She also targeted the restaurant run by Mr Robinson’s partner, sending Facebook messages to customers falsely claiming she had seen a man carrying out a sex act in a cooking pot.

In February 2020, McBean sent a pig’s head to Mr Robinson’s partner’s restaurant.

“At about 8.50am he was working at the restaurant when a delivery was made. He thought it was from a catering company,” prosecutor Matthew Dalton told a previous hearing.

“He opened it... it was a pig’s head. He didn’t expect this and would never order anything like this. They only served halal meat at the restaurant.”

McBean, of New Cross, appeared at Woolwich Crown Court on Thursday to plead guilty to multiple charges including breach of a restraining order, criminal damage, stalking and sending malicious communications.

Judge Ruth Downing sentenced her to 15 months in jail and extended her restraining order until 31 May.

Sentencing McBean, she said: “The breaches are of an offensive rather than violent nature... restraining orders are given in a variety of places which covers a gamut of conduct.

“The main feature of this conduct has not been one of violence but a loss of peace and quiet.”

Judge Downing said the criminal damage suggested McBean’s campaign was “getting out of hand”.

“Matters reached a very unpleasant stage when you sent a package that when opened... revealed that there was a pig’s head inside, which was a horrible and very gratuitous act of spite,” she said.

James Hasslacher, defending, said: “This was an irrational approach to the breakdown of a relationship.”

Referring to McBean’s guilty pleas he said: “It is a move by her that I hope the court can see is an optimistic way forward.”

He added: “This was a toxic relationship that descended into this quite irrational behaviour.”