A mum has told how her life was ruined for five YEARS after a twisted catfish - who she had met once - bombarded her with messages and told family and friends that she was having an affair.
Sabrina Cowley was targeted by Matthew Hardy, who sent thousands of messages accusing her of having an affair with an ex-boyfriend of her late mum.
She spent years being bombarded with messages from Hardy, who created several fake accounts in a bid to harass her.
As a result, the mum's relationship broke down and she was even unable to enjoy the birth of her third child.
Bizarrely, the harassment was triggered by an innocuous five-minute meeting between the pair, which barely registered with Sabrina at the time.
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Sabrina, 42, says: "He absolutely ruined my life and dominated my thoughts for five years. He set up accounts pretending to me and sent messages to my friends and family and even my children.
"He also set up accounts in my friends' names and messaged me pretending to be them.
"The level of research he carried out to discover small details about me was mind-blowing and it made me so afraid that he would hurt me or my family.
"I hated letting my children out of the house, even to go to school. I barely slept and I was forever checking for him in the street. My life was completely controlled by him."
The pair first met in 2015 when Sabrina called in to see a family friend of her late mum, and Hardy was at the house.
Sabrina, from Mere, Cheshire, says: "I was only at the house to drop something off, I said hello to Matthew and we left it at that. I didn't think any more of it."
"But days later, he began messaging me on Facebook and accused me of having an affair with the family friend I had been to visit.
"I assured him he had got the wrong idea; the man was much older than me and married to my mum's friend. I thought it was a bit odd and left it at that."
But she then received a slew of messages, both from Hardy and from accounts of people Sabrina knew well. In one message, she was accused of having an affair with an ex-boyfriend of her late mum.
In another, he suggested she was sleeping with her best friend's husband and also with a close male friend.
She says: "The messages were from accounts of people I was friendly with and at first there was lots of detail and they seemed genuine. Most of the time he would just make conversation before he started making really creepy suggestions.
"At first, I thought my friends were turning against me. It was really upsetting and confusing."
One year on, Sabrina learned that Hardy had previously been convicted of harassment over social media and she became suspicious.
Sabrina, who runs fitness and pole dancing classes, says: "I went to the police, but I didn't feel they took me seriously. They suggested I try blocking him but of course, he had so many fake accounts in different names, and I didn't know which were my genuine friends and which were him.
"He was by this stage messaging my friends and work colleagues from a fake account he had set up in my name, so even if closed my social media down he was still able to stalk me.
"I had no idea what he was saying to people about me and it was very embarrassing.
"The level of information he was able to gather about me was frightening. He was very clever and manipulative and messaged students from my fitness class, and even the studio owner. He delved into my past to find people I'd lost touch with. He seemed to know everything about me.
"I became scared for my safety and for my children, I was constantly checking the street before we went out. I was on high alert all the time.
"I was so desperate that I even contacted Hardy directly, and his mother, to ask to be left alone. I asked him why he was stalking me, but he couldn't give me an answer."
In February 2018, Sabrina had a daughter, Nancy, but the birth was ruined by the constant harassment from Hardy. Sadly, her relationship broke down too under the strain.
She says: "I suffer with endometriosis and the stress caused by Hardy made it so much worse. He was affecting my health mentally and physically.
"I contacted the police on several occasions and finally last year the case was taken up by PC Kevin Anderson rom Northwich Local Policing Unit who was absolutely wonderful.
"I was horrified to find out that Hardy had targeted many other women as well as me."
Matthew Hardy appeared before Chester Crown Court earlier this month in relation with the harassment against Sabrina and other women, and was jailed for nine years.
He had earlier pleaded guilty to three counts of stalking with intent to cause alarm or distress, two counts of stalking without intent to cause alarm and breaching a restraining order from 2013, which banned him from using false details on social networking sites.
He also admitted stalking a further four women, which was taken into consideration upon sentencing.
Following the sentencing, Police Constable Kevin Anderson from Northwich Local Policing Unit, said: "Having led on this case for more than 18 months I have seen the emotional distress and turmoil that Hardy has inflicted on his victims - he did all of this while hiding behind his computer screen.
"The impact on those affected by his actions has been immense, causing some of them to change some of their daily habits, and live in constant fear that they were being watched.
"On other occasions, it caused them to lose trust in their friends and family members, and even led to the breakdown of long-term relationships.
"Thankfully, Hardy has now been held accountable for his actions, and his online activity has finally been brought to a stop.
"I hope that the conclusion of this case will provide some closure for his victims and enable then to rebuild and move forward with their lives."
