Ex-darts star sent emails to wife despite ban
A former top darts player sent three emails to his wife in a dispute over an insurance claim – despite being banned from contacting her, a court heard.
Chris Mason's wife Lorna had a nervous breakdown and is on medication for depression after he breached an order stopping him contacting her, magistrates were told.
Mason, of Hednesford, sent three messages in a month to his 39-year-old wife. She has since been driven to the brink of suicide, prosecutors said.
Known as 'Mace the ace', Mason admitted breaching the non-molestation order when he appeared in court yesterday.
Magistrates imposed a restraining order, banning him from having any contact with his estranged wife until April 2016. He was also ordered to pay £85 costs, a £60 victim surcharge and must also carry out 50 hours of unpaid work.
In October last year, Mason was issued with a non-molestation order at a family court and was told not to contact Lorna expect through solicitors.
Prosecutor Jayne Youngs said: "They are going through a divorce which is making life difficult and the process has made her ill and she has had a nervous breakdown and is on depression medication.
"She does not think she is coping and says if it carries on like this she will have another breakdown. If it wasn't for her daughter she would end her life because of this defendant."
Chairman of the bench Catherine Hazenberg told him: "We accept you were frustrated but you have breached the order three times.
"We will impose a restraining order on top of the non-molestation order and we want to make it certain you do not contact Lorna Mason in any way, shape or form, except through solicitors, it is your responsibility.
"This will be for a period of two years to protect Lorna Mason."
Richard Quinn, defending, said: "My client has no issues with his relationship breaking down. When it did, he left the marital home and everything in it, including a motor vehicle to her (Lorna Mason). He has complied in the past and has been sober for six months and three weeks now. He is turning his life around." Mason was on the brink of stardom when he won the prestigious Scottish Open in 1995, Irish Masters in 2000 and English Open in 2001.
He retired from the sport in 2011 and now regularly appears as a darts pundit on ITV. Mason, of Sandpiper Close, in Hednesford, made his World Championship debut in 1996.
