Stalker who hoped to win over his Preston victim with £10k gift jailed for two years
A stalker who gave his Preston victim £10,000 in a bid to make her stay in contact with him has been jailed.
Graeme Clark, 43, created a string of fake social media profiles so the victim couldn’t escape his clutches over two years.
Clark, of St Ives in Cambridgeshire, had become infatuated after he met her through her work in Preston in August 2021.
They quickly formed a friendship, which saw them text every day and she travelled down to see him in Cambridgeshire.
However, a couple of months later, the victim became wary of Clark after he told her he had become “obsessed” with her, and she decided to stop seeing him.
Shortly after she blocked him on WhatsApp, Clark called to say he had transferred £10k into her bank account.
The shocked victim spent half an hour on the phone telling him she couldn’t accept the money, but he rejected her pleas to take it back.
The victim said the money didn’t change things, despite his attempts to persuade her to stay in contact.
A couple of weeks later Clark sent her a message on Facebook stating he was at a hotel in Preston, and wanted her to visit him.
It dawned on the victim that the hotel was near to where she lived, despite her never giving him her address.
Clark continued to bombard her with messages, and after a month she blocked him on all her social media accounts.
Undeterred, he continued to message her every day from fake accounts, which escalated to messaging her family and friends saying he was worried about her.
In February last year, Clark sent a message to the victim’s Instagram account telling her to “be more careful on social media” and posted a Google image of her home.
The following day she told him again to leave her alone, and Clark vowed he would, “for good”.
But just days later she received a friend request with a profile picture of her gym, which left her anxious he would turn up there.
In March last year, Clark continued to bombard the victim under a new username of “you know me”.
He sent her a message demanding she give him back the £10,000 he had given her two years ago.
Two months later, the stalking continued, so the victim reported him to the police and he was arrested.
In police interview, Clark admitted messaging the victim’s family and friends to “check on her welfare” and apologised for leaving the victim feeling harassed.
On Tuesday (July 23), Clark pleaded guilty to stalking involving serious alarm/distress at Huntingdon Law Courts.
He was handed a prison sentence of two years and four months and a restraining order.
DC Lee Hurley said: “This awful experience left the victim feeling in genuine fear - every time she saw a car like his it caused her to panic.
"She constantly questioned herself and it made her feel paranoid.
“Stalking is a horrendous crime, and I would like to thank the victim for her courage and bravery in reporting this to the police.
"I hope this sentencing provides her with some sort of closure.”
Credit: SWNS