Welsh soldier threatened to stab Girls Aloud singer
AFORMER Welsh soldier sent threatening messages to his ex-girlfriend, Girls Aloud singer Nicola Roberts, in a five-year stalking campaign.
Carl Davies threatened to stab and burn the girl band star after setting up 35 fake social media accounts to send her thousands of Twitter and Instagram messages.
Knife and fire emojis were pictured on the most disturbing messages compared to the other more affectionate tweets where the Afghanistan veteran declared his love and sent bouquets of flowers to the offices of the singer’s manager, a court heard on Friday.
Miss Roberts never replied to any of the messages but meticulously copied every one until after five years the target changed to her friend, R&B singer Joel Compass, which prompted the 31-year-old to contact the police.
Davies, from Flint, had been the star’s boyfriend at the heights of the Girls Aloud fame but the pair parted company in 2008.
The harassing social media message started appearing in 2012 and continued until Davies was arrested in February this year and was remanded to prison until the case could be heard in court.
In Miss Roberts’ victim impact statement which was read to Judge Jonathan Black sitting at Guildford Crown Court, the singer said the messages had brought back bad memories of their relationship.
“The messages he sent reminded me of all the terrible things that happened when we were together,” it read.
“It was only really last year when he started threatening my friend that I realised things couldn’t go on and I reported it to the police.”
Speaking about her life since Davies was detained in February, her statement continued: “I feel safe in my own home knowing he can’t get to me.
“I am worried for when Carl gets out and when he has access again to a mobile phone.”
Davies admitted one count of stalking and another count of persistent use of public communication network to cause annoyance or inconvenience and was handed a 15-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, which meant he would be immediately released from jail.
He was also given a life-time restraining order not to contact the singer, Mr Compass, or go within 250 metres of the pair or her family.
Judge Jonathan Black said on Friday: “For a period up to 2008 you were in a relationship with Nicola Roberts, the singer-songwriter, but that came to an end in 2008.
“From the date the crown says was in 2012, you say was in 2014, but for the purpose of this sentencing makes little difference, you sent 3,000 messages to her through the use of around 35 fake social media accounts.
“Some of those messages were loving, wanting to be with her, some messages with little meaning but other messages threatening serious violence, mentioning knives and burning.”
He added: “One of the questions Miss Roberts asked at her police interview and I think there’s many people in this courtroom today wondering the same thing, is ‘Why does he think we’re still in a relationship?’”
Lee Harris, prosecuting, told the court: “The victim in this case is Nicola Roberts, currently a singer in the band Girls Aloud,” he said. “She was in a relationship with Mr Davies in 2008. The relationship ended acrimoniously.”
He continued: “She says that since then Mr Davies has been sending messages to her. There was a stack of 3,000 in total.
“The messages ranged from loving - ‘I love you’, ‘I want to be with you’ type of messages - to violent and threatening types of messages.
“There’s the use of knife emojis, threats of burning, and a lot of messages somewhere in between. Miss Roberts took screenshots of each of these messages whenever they came and sent them to the police in due course.
“What caused her to, in the end, contact the police, was contact she had with her friend Joel Compass.
He started getting messages at the end of October last year.”
Among the messages sent to Mr Compass - a musician who has worked with Miss Roberts in the past - were “call me now” and “I hope you appreciate your girlfriend while it lasts”, which was sent with dagger and knife emojis.
Another of the 36 messages the 39-year-old sent to the R&B and soul singer read: “I’ll burn you once I finish with your face and body.”
“She also complained, through her manager, of receiving bouquets of flowers,” added Mr Harris. The flowers were always sent to her manager’s office.
Monica Stevenson, defending, told Guildford Crown Court that Davies had suffered from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) since leaving the army and later jobs in private security had not helped his mental condition.
“It’s accepted, on behalf of Mr Davies, that his conduct, which he has pleaded guilty to, inadvertently caused serious harm and upset to both the victims in this case,” she said. “He conveys, through me, his disgust for his conduct.”
She continued: “As Miss Roberts acknowledges she received these messages but didn’t at any stage contact Mr Davies in any way, least of all to say something like ‘Stop sending these messages’.
“Very often in cases of stalking the offender is given a warning, often by the complainant but often by other agencies such as the police. What we know is that there was no such warning in this case.”
Judge Black added: “A probation report shows you suffer from PTSD which goes back to your service in the army, especially in Afghanistan, and some of the issues and things you must have seen in Afghanistan. It’s clear from your army records that you were a well thought-of member of the armed forces.
“Now that the PTSD has been diagnosed you will be aware of what caused you to act in this way and you will be able to properly respond to those issues.”
Davies, of Queens Avenue, Flint, was ordered to pay £800 in costs plus a £100 victim surcharge as well as to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work and complete a 60-day rehabilitation activity.