I’m always looking over my shoulder: Crime tsar reveals her stalking hell
A POLICE crime tsar yesterday described how she is ‘ always looking over my shoulder’ after a terrifying ordeal at the hands of her stalker ex-lover.
Alison Hernandez, police and crime commissioner for Devon and Cornwall, was beaten during her relationship with on-off boyfriend Gil Winfield.
And when she left him after two years, the ‘obsessed and besotted’ chartered surveyor embarked on a relentless campaign of harassment against her, a court heard.
Winfield, 48, was sentenced at Exeter crown court yesterday after admitting two charges of assault during their relationship and a further charge of stalking.
He was handed a 15-month sentence, suspended for two years, and a ten- year restraining order.
In a victim impact statement read out to the court, Miss Hernandez, 44, said: ‘ I am always looking over my shoulder. I just want Gil to stop and leave me alone. I do not want any contact.’
Judge David Evans said her £85,000-a-year role as PCC may have dissuaded her from reporting the crimes because ‘there may be career embarrassment for her’.
At the weekend Miss Hernandez said: ‘The police were the last people I wanted to speak to … I think he knew that and that’s why he persisted.
‘Being in a position of power in my working life but then being so powerless in my personal life is a dichotomy in itself. I like to feel in control.’
The mother-of-one, who oversees policing in the south-west in her civilian role, added: ‘The first time Gil hit me, we were away in Italy. He threw a hot cup of tea at my head and it narrowly missed me.
‘We were arguing because I said I wanted to go home early. I wanted to end the relationship and he went absolutely crazy. He started shouting and yelling.
‘I remember locking myself in the toilet to get away from him and I called my friend, crying. What was I supposed to do? I felt trapped. I was on holiday with this man for another three days.’
Miss Hernandez attempted to end the relationship when they returned home, but Winfield managed to convince her to stay with him.
She said she tried to leave him a further six times but was always dissuaded. Eventually their arguments turned violent, and the ‘final straw’ came in February this year when he hit her in the face on the way home from a trip to Lidl.
Their relationship, which began in 2016, ended after this incident but Winfield continued to harass her for three months. Although Miss Hernandez blocked him on her phone, he still bombarded her with voicemails, emails and texts.
Winfield then went to the home where she was staying with a friend and knocked on doors and windows, leaving unwanted gifts including an Easter egg for her daughter and a bottle of prosecco.
He also sent an email which read, ‘I am missing you,’ with a topless selfie attached, and later threatened to disclose material which could damage her high-profile career.
Miss Hernandez eventually contacted lawyers, who
‘He threw hot tea at my head’
ordered Winfield to leave her alone and warned his actions amounted to stalking.
He apologised for his behaviour but continued to stalk her, at which point Miss Hernandez reported him to police in April and he was arrested.
Sentencing Winfield yesterday, Judge Evans said: ‘You were obsessed and besotted. You were manipulative, controlling and wanted revenge on her for her ending the relationship.’
As well as the suspended sentence and restraining order, the judge imposed 180 hours of unpaid work and a 15- day rehabilitation order.
Afterwards Miss Hernandez, who was elected PCC in May 2016, issued a statement urging victims of stalking to contact their local police force.
She added: ‘This sentence has reassured me that reporting the crime was the right thing to do.’