Gym worker jailed in 'bizarre' stalking case
Man attempted to fake assault
A GYM instructor from Gosport has been jailed for two years after he tried to frame a former partner in a fake assault.
Craig Smith, of Bury Road, Gosport, admitted stalking causing serious alarm or distress and perverting the course of justice.
The 26-year-old had engaged in an intense month of stalking against his former partner after she ended their five-month relationship in May.
Smith bombarded her with hundreds of emails and social media messages using his own and fake accounts.
He was seen loitering when she visited her grandparents, left a note on her car demanding they meet, and asked friends and family members to contact her.
Smith continued to message her even after she had repeatedly asked him not to do so.
His behaviour took a ‘perverse turn’, according to Lucy Conroy, prosecuting at Southampton Crown Court, when Smith attempted to implicate his former partner in a fake assault.
On May 20, Smith reported that he had been the victim of assault in Monks Way, Gosport – showing officers photos of his supposed injuries.
He also used fake personas to send statements claiming she had orchestrated the assault, and messaged her pretending to be anonymous individual threatening the pair and her grandfather.
One ‘ bizarre’ message to police claimed to be sent from a convicted drug dealer who had been offered money to ‘jump’ Smith, Ms Conroy said.
But police discovered the message had been sent from Smith’s address at the time, and his email account had received an automatic thankyou message in response.
Defending Smith, Daniel Sawyer said the stalker’s life ‘went off the rails in quite an unacceptable way’ between May and June, with the gym instructor heavily using alcohol and cannabis.
He has since cleaned up his act and started receiving counselling, Mr Sawyer said.
Judge Peter Henry said the case represented ‘the most bizarre state of facts’ and the defence’s appeal for a suspended sentence was ‘out of the question’.
A restraining order now bans him from visiting the woman’s address, as well as Pure Gym in Fareham, and from contacting her. He cannot use fake accounts or compel others to contact or mention her online, on social media, or via offline forums.