Stalker tried to kiss beauty queen at Miss England final
Rapper became obsessed with her after ‘falling in love’ over Facebook
A WOULD-BE rapper was jailed yesterday for stalking a Miss England finalist after ‘falling in love’ with her on Facebook.
Jonathan Deal, 39, harassed beauty queen Samantha Bumford, 25, by besieging her with unwanted messages on social media and turning up uninvited at several of her shows.
The aspiring singer, whose stage name is JAYD, told Miss Bumford he was going to try to appear on Britain’s Got Talent with a song he wrote ‘dedicated to his love for her’. It is not clear if he ever attended an audition for the ITV show.
Deal’s infatuation culminated when he followed her to the finals of Miss England and forcibly tried to kiss her on the lips as she came off stage.
Miss Bumford, the reigning Miss Poole and 2017 Miss England Social Media Queen, said she had to shove him away and flee towards her family.
Feeling spurned, Deal sent her a message claiming: ‘You only did well in Miss England because the judges thought you were my girlfriend.’
The day after the event, Deal posted a photograph of Miss Bumford in a white wedding dress on his Facebook page with emojis of a heart and an engagement ring, writing that he had ‘fallen in love’.
Miss Bumford, a trainee primary school teacher from Poole, Dorset, was eventually forced to block her unwanted admirer on Facebook.
Yesterday Deal was sen- Mugshot: Jonathan Deal tenced to 23 weeks in prison by magistrates after previously pleading guilty to a charge of harassment.
His victim sobbed as she told the court of her ordeal which lasted from August 31 to September 10 last year.
‘I’m constantly on edge and have been placed on medication because of this,’ said Miss Bumford. ‘For the first time, I don’t want to do this [modelling]. I’m not sleeping and am constantly looking over my shoulder. It has completely ruined my life.’
Deal travelled 200 miles from his home in Bournemouth to Nottingham to watch her compete for the Miss England title. He gifted Miss Bumford a necklace which she wore on stage, a sign which Deal ‘misread’. After finishing in the top 20, he accosted her as she left the stage, trying to kiss her. Jason Spellman, prosecuting, said: ‘The defendant has had a significant impact on Miss Bumford’s life and has a long record of incidents relating to stalking and harassment.
‘He sent several messages via Facebook declaring his love for her. Each time she responded with a generic response saying she loved all her fans and thanking him for his support.
‘On September 4, she was competing at a Miss England event in Nottingham when she came in the top 20.
‘As she left the stage, he grabbed her on the arms and body and tried to kiss her on the lips. She shouted for him to get off and had to be forceful.’
The court in Poole heard that Deal has 19 previous offences relating to harassment and stalking incidents dating back to 2003 in which other women were targeted.
According to his Facebook profile, he competed in series 13 of the X Factor and posted a picture taken at the show’s auditions.
Simon Lacey, mitigating, said: ‘Mr Deal sees things very literally and in this case has obviously misread some signs.
‘He has troubles forming relationships and no- one in the past has seemed to get to the root of the issue.’
Magistrate Marion Mackay told Deal: ‘The impact you have had on the victim has been very serious and you have had an impact on her mental state. As there is a history of similar offences, we think the incident is serious enough to warrant a custodial sentence.’
Deal was also given an indefinite restraining order and ordered to pay £500 compensation to Miss Bumford.
‘Sent messages declaring love’