Teen stalker ‘terrorised’ college lover, 42, af ter he ended affair
A BESOTTED ex-student who hounded a college worker when he broke off their affair has been issued with a restraining order.
Chloe Armes, 19, stalked 42-yearold David McDermott, smashed up his car and even followed him when he went to Benidorm on holiday, a court heard.
The teenager lost her virginity to the father-of-two – who was subsequently dismissed from his job as a support worker at Eccles Sixth Form College in Salford – having met him two years earlier on her induction day.
They had sex at a boutique hotel and then a further fling before he tried to cool their affair, the court was told.
Armes then contacted Mr McDermott’s on-off partner and mother of his children to tell her of the affair. She also vandalised his Ford Kuga, sprayed the word ‘nonce’ on his garden fence and posted messages on Facebook claiming she was pregnant.
Mr McDermott reported the teenager to police but was later dismissed from the college for gross misconduct.
In a statement, he said: ‘The incidents with Chloe have changed my way of life. My daily routine has changed as I do not pick up my children as Chloe will turn up at their school. My anxiety and health is deteriorating.
‘Chloe made allegations about me which has led to me losing my job, which will affect me financially.
‘I feel frightened for my own safety as she is willing to attend the address at which I was at and damage my vehicle and shout for me to come out.
‘My reputation has been tarnished as people will think the worst. I fear for the safety of my family.’
At Manchester Crown Court, Armes, of Eccles, admitted harassment and was banned from contacting Mr McDermott indefinitely.
The hearing was told Mr McDermott had been in an on-off relationship with Victoria Fox for ten years. He met Armes on the day she enrolled at college and the pair swapped hugs. But she was asked to leave her course in 2019 following an incident with another student. The following year – when she was 17 – she emailed Mr McDermott, asking for a picture of him, prosecutor Gavin Howie said.
He didn’t reply, but in July 2020 he met Armes – now 18 – at a pub. ‘They began to talk and Mr McDermott said she began to tell him that she had fantasised about him and that she wanted to have sex with him,’ Mr Howie said.
He then took her to the Ivy Mount Boutique hotel and they had sex. Later Mr McDermott went on holiday to Spain by himself. But while he was there, Armes made payments of a few
‘I fear for the safety of my family’
pence to his bank account accompanied by messages to ‘ring me’. When he responded, she told him she was travelling to Benidorm, but he returned to England the day after she arrived.
The court heard Armes contacted him again in August 2020, asking for help in returning to the college.
He arranged to meet at another hotel with the intention of ending the relationship, the court heard, but they ended up having unprotected sex.
In mitigation, Jane Miller said her client was ‘emotionally unstable’ following her first sexual relationship.
Judge Hilary Manley told Armes that Mr McDermott ‘should have known better not to have sex with you’. He would have faced up to five years in prison had she been a student under his care, she said.
Ordering Armes to ‘stay away’ from Mr McDermott, Judge Manley said: ‘Whatever the background, there can be no excuse for harassing any person.’ She was also ordered to complete a two-year community order with rehabilitation days.