A Southampton man on parole for the murder of his daughter has been jailed for stalking and invading a woman’s privacy.

Damon Deroza, 40, had been released on parole last year, after being given a life sentence for the 1996 murder of five-year-old Lynae Brown.

The court heard he had been asked to observe Mental Health Court, but was deemed unsuitable for the programme due to his previous conviction for a violent offence.

Magistrate Archibald Warner lamented the lack of a secure mental health facility, adding that for the time being society needed to be protected from Deroza.

“For us, it seems every week now this court has got to lament, as it has for years, that this country lacks a secure forensic facility for mental illness,” Mr Warner said. “One of my roles is to protect the public. This case stares that right in the face.”

The court heard that Deroza first approached Gizelle Lightbourne in late June, when she was taking her son to preschool.

The defendant approached her car and began a conversation as though the two knew one another, which made her nervous.

He said that he had been thinking about her, and asked if she lived in the area before she left the area in her car.

On August 28, Ms Lightbourne was jogging shortly after 7pm when Deroza pulled up behind her on a cycle, said “I’ve been looking for you” and asked if he could touch her body.

Deroza then told a frightened Ms Lightbourne that he wanted to take her for a ride, and that they could go and see the children that they had together.

When the complainant told Deroza that she did not know him and they did not have any children together, he became angry and made a lewd comment to her, before apologising for cheating on her as she walked away.

She broke out into a run, at which point he expressed disbelief that she would not let him see their children, and told her that he knew where she lived.

After calling her eldest child to explain the situation, Ms Lightbourne met a family member at a nearby laundromat and was eventually taken home by a family member — although she and her children spent the night elsewhere.

She later spotted Deroza lingering near her child’s preschool and contacted police to file a complaint.

At the time of the offences, Deroza was on parole for the 1996 murder of his five-year-old daughter, Lynae Brown, for which he received a life sentence.

Duty counsel Vaughan Caines said a Social Inquiry Report and a psychological assessment both found that Deroza was in need of treatment, saying: “Simply locking him up is not going to fully address the situation.”

While he suggested that Deroza could be remanded to the Mid Atlantic Wellness Institute, Mr Warner said he could not do so as it is not a secure facility.

Prosecutor Carrington Mahoney meanwhile said that the reports had identified some “red flags”, saying: “It would be dangerous at this time to let him roam the community at large.”

Deroza’s mother also addressed the court, saying she was shocked by his behaviour.

“Damon has been locked away for years for the murder of his own daughter, my granddaughter,” she said. “He has been out approximately a year and two weeks. I never dreamt that when he was released last year that he would be back here in court because he has been on medication throughout his incarceration.”

Mr Warner sentenced Deroza to three years in prison for intruding on the privacy of the complainant and nine months for stalking, ordering the sentences to run concurrently.

However, after hearing that Deroza is expected to appear before the Parole Board later this week, he stated that the sentence should run consecutive to any other sentences.

He further said that the defendants is to be given all appropriate mental health treatment programmes while in custody.

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