A man "bombarded" a colleague over a three-year campaign of "disturbing and sinister" online stalking after they kissed.
David Hughes, 41, hounded his colleague and his “paranoid” behaviour led her to thinking of ending her life. On Monday (September 5), Liverpool Crown Court heard that Hughes hacked the social media accounts of his stalking victim, repeatedly changed her passwords and followed one of her young children on Instagram.
Hughes, who identified with violent screen characters, “bombarded” her with texts as well as on social media. He sent her frightening “coded messages” including a photograph of her earring dropped in his car, saying: "bad things are coming your way.”
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Stella Hayden, prosecuting, said the victim arranged to meet Hughes to ask him to stop pursuing her. However, Miss Hayden then told the court that Hughes said: “He was crazy about her and accused her of leading him on”.
Hughes also sent the victim a Valentine card drenched in his aftershave. She was horrified to realise he had found out where she lived.
He also sent her an Instagram request in a disguised name, which she accepted. He then said to her: "Once a cheat, always a cheat" and "one lie is enough to question all truths". He also sent her a photograph of herself with the words “I cheat".
He hacked her Facebook profile and searched for her wedding album photos, which he deleted, and kept resetting the password. He added an email address to her account and when she tried to remove it, he kept changing the passwords.
Hughes was arrested on July 20, 2022 and his electronic devices were seized. Officers also found documents from work, which included details of her address and family.
When the devices were examined, Hughes was found to have copied intimate photographs of another female colleague onto his own phone for his sexual gratification. The photographs showing the other woman with her breasts and genitals exposed were found and inquiries revealed that, when she had asked him for help with her iPad, he took the opportunity to look at her photographs and copied some onto his mobile phone.
In her impact statement the woman spoke of “her horror” at learning what he had done. She said she felt violated, betrayed and vulnerable. Miss Hayden said that the victim's sleeping was affected, she required counselling and had been prescribed medication.
Miss Hayden said that the victim had a brief two month affair with Hughes “and it did not go beyond kissing.” She said: “Every online account she held was compromised which was frightening as well as disruptive.”
She said the victim described it as an “incredible invasion of her privacy" and she "felt at points she no longer wanted to be alive.” The victim became afraid to leave home and installed extra security devices. Her husband had to take time off work to care for her.
Hughes, of Harris Street, Dentons Green, St Helens, pleaded guilty to stalking involving serious alarm between February 2018 and July last year, as well unauthorised computer access with intent to commit other offences and voyeurism. Sentencing him to two years and eight months behind bars, the judge, Recorder David Knifton, QC, said that Hughes had become “infatuated” with the stalking victim.
He said they used to socialise as colleagues but it became romantic after a Christmas party, in part due to marriage difficulties she was then having. However, the victim ended it in February for the sake of her marriage.
The judge told Hughes that he became “jealous and controlling towards her at work." He added: "You bombarded her with messages via text and social media including when she was on holiday with her husband and family despite being instructed by her husband not to do so.
“Your behaviour continued despite her begging you repeatedly to stop….Your cyber-stalking continued over a period of three years, her social media and email accounts were hacked by you.”
He continued, “As time went on the messages became increasingly disturbing and sinister, either in terms of a threatening tone or identifying yourself with fictional film or television characters with a reputation for violence to women.”
His behaviour placed a strain on the victim’s marriage and she felt intimidated and concerned for the safety of herself and her family, said Recorder Knifton. He told Hughes, a former graduate, that his other victim had been shocked at his behaviour which was a “gross betrayal of trust."
He added: "She describes feeling humiliated, violated and tormented.”
Phil Astbury, defending, said: “He does not seek for me to dilute the seriousness of the offences. He acknowledges the behaviour he displayed over a protracted period.
He said he had shown genuine remorse and was “ashamed and embarrassed by that which he did". Mr Astbury said that Hughes, who has no previous convictions, had been suffering from anxiety and depression which worsened after his father was diagnosed as terminally ill and subsequently died.
The lawyer added: “He describes it as a downward spiral in respect of his mental health and ability to cope. He describes his conduct as almost a distraction from the grief and trauma.” The court heard that Hughes' mental health was poor, not helped by his diabetes which he was failing to manage properly, but he has since undertaken cognitive behaviour therapy.
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