Stalking Victim Wins $1.2-Million Judgment

The son of Britain’s top law enforcement official has been ordered to pay $1.2 million for stalking and threatening the boyfriend of a tanning salon employee whom he had courted while visiting Orange County last year.

Alastair Irvine, 25, was deported to Britain in April after serving six months of a 16-month prison sentence and did not appear in court last week when Orange County Superior Court Judge Michael Brenner ordered him to pay the boyfriend.

Irvine’s father is Lord Chancellor Derry Irvine, who administers the British court system and advises on the appointment of judges. He is one of Prime Minister Tony Blair’s most veteran and trusted advisors.

“My understanding is his father is the equivalent of our U.S. attorney general,” said Daryl Dworakowski, an attorney who filed the lawsuit on behalf of Karel Edward Taska, 20, and his parents, Kathy and Karel Eric Taska.

Though Dworakowski said his clients were happy with the judgment, he now is researching how to enforce it against a British citizen.

Irvine’s case has been closely watched by the British media, including a mob of reporters who were at London’s Heathrow Airport in April to watch his arrival. One tabloid headlined the event “Lord Irvine’s Disgraced Son Arrives in UK.”

Though Irvine was served a copy of the lawsuit, he did not attend any of the court proceedings, Dworakowski said.

The civil case was filed after Irvine pleaded guilty in October 2002 to stalking and threatening Taska.

He also poured a paint stripping agent on Taska’s pickup truck, causing $5,700 in damage, and confronted Taska at a tanning salon.

Irvine, an avid bodybuilder, met Nicole Healy, 19, while getting a tan at the Newport Beach salon where she worked.

Several British newspapers reported that Irvine was in Orange County after completing treatment at a drug rehabilitation center in San Diego for cocaine addiction.

Irvine asked Healy about starting a romantic relationship but she turned him down, telling Irvine she had a boyfriend, police said. But he continued bringing flowers to the salon.

After Irvine vandalized Taska’s truck, he went to Healy’s workplace with a gun in his belt and threatened to kill Taska, Dworakowski said.

The judge in Irvine’s criminal case ordered him deported upon his release. The judge also issued a 10-year restraining order prohibiting the defendant from making contact with the victims.

Irvine spent six months at Pleasant Valley State Prison in Coalinga, a medium- to high-security facility with 4,600 inmates, before his release in late March to immigration authorities.

During his incarceration, he was a “pretty quiet” inmate who read a lot and kept a low profile, said Lt. Paul Sanchez, a prison spokesman.

“While he was here I remember he had a lot of interest from British newspapers like the Daily News and London Times,” Sanchez said. “They always called seeking information about him.”