A Winchester woman has been sentenced at Southampton Magistrates Court to an 18-month community order and a 10-year restraining order for repeatedly harassing Police and Crime Commissioner Donna Jones. Teresa Skelton, 65, was convicted in May 2026 following a trial, and the sentencing on 2 July 2026 brings an end to a campaign that began in 2020.
Mrs Jones said the harassment had affected her ability to carry out her role, impacted her family who were also targeted, and forced her to increase security measures. “The sentencing brings an end to a long, sustained, personal vendetta against me,” she stated. The judge described Skelton’s behaviour as “targeted, persistent, distressing, and unacceptable” and noted she had shown no remorse.
The offending took place at police and public meetings across Hampshire between 2021 and 2024. Incidents included Skelton calling for the sacking of then Chief Constable Olivia Pinkey at a 2022 meeting, filming and confronting Mrs Jones during a Law Sunday service at Winchester Cathedral in 2023, and attending and filming the Petersfield Annual General Meeting in April 2024, where she became disruptive and walked towards Mrs Jones with papers before police intervened. The defence argued that people in public office had become “too soft” to criticism, but the judge found Skelton’s actions had gone “beyond robust” and that she had no concept of the impact on her victim.
The ten-year restraining order prohibits Skelton from contacting or approaching Donna Jones. The Police and Crime Commissioner said the sentence sends a clear message that such intimidating behaviour will result in legal consequences, and that the length of the order gives her hope the harassment will now end.
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