A DELUDED prisoner was allowed to wage a malicious harassment campaign against four women from his cell because frustrated jail staff could not check his mail. Andrew Covey, 41, repeatedly breached a restraining order over a two-and-a-half-year period by disguising the hateful letters as communications to solicitors. Security officers at HMP High Down in Sutton, Surrey could do nothing to stop him because of his right to legal representation. Covey wrote a string of rants to a family he was 'obsessed' with, accusing them of being part of a nationwide conspiracy involving the government to protect rapists from prosecution. The defendant, of Glen Close, Beacon Hill, Hindhead, was convicted on Tuesday after trial at Guildford Crown Court on 18 counts of breaching or attempting to breach a restraining order between August 2005 and January 2008. He was found guilty in his absence after refusing to co-operate in the prosecution. The jury took 15 minutes to return unanimous verdicts. The convict was then ushered into the dock for sentencing but was dramatically wrestled back to the cells by three security officers after an outburst. Judge Michael Addison told the jury that the trial had been 'obviously a bit of a formality' because Covey had no defence to the charges. He said: "There is something to be said for the view he may have some sort of mental disorder," adding that the defendant had refused to see a psychiatrist. Daniel Fugallo, prosecuting, said that Covey was banned in August 2005 at Winchester Crown Court from contacting four women. But he ignored the order and penned 'long and rambling' letters to the victims and made reference to them when writing to other people. Mr Fugallo said the defendant wrote continually about particular 'themes' and 'obsessions', adding: "They return continually to various kinds of supposed establishment cults. "They refer to judicial corruption, police corruption, corruption in the legal system, paedophile corruption in the government, corruption in the cabinet, the freemasons, moon landings – all kinds of supposed cover-ups and conspiracies." He added that Covey had made "quite specific and very unpleasant" allegations about his victims, accusing them of being mentally ill, alcoholics, drug addicts and dealers, perjurers and thieves. Covey also claimed the women – including a mother and her two daughters – had been victims of domestic rape but were part of a cover-up to protect their attacker. The defendant wrote one letter to Haslemere police station that declared: "I am going to wind these people right up and I cannot be stopped". In another, he claimed: "I have stumbled across Britain's version of the Watergate cover-up, over 1,000 sex offenders are involved." Mr Fugallo said: "He has been interviewed in the course of this investigation and has declined to answer any questions police have asked him about sending these letters". Covey -– who has a string of previous convictions – told the court before the start of his trial that he was "enjoying his martyrdom" in prison. Judge Addison adjourned sentence until July 4, "in the hope we can get a psychiatric report".