A 43-year-old man from St Ives has been jailed for stalking a woman for more than two years.

Graeme Clark, of Willow Green, Needingworth, met a woman through work in Preston, Lancashire in August 2021.

They formed a friendship but he became infatuated with her, and they began texting everyday. She travelled down to see him in Cambridgeshire.

A few months down the line the victim became wary of Clark after he said he had become "obsessed" with her, so she decided to stop seeing him and she blocked him on Whatsapp.

However, Clark then called her to say he'd transferred £10,000 into her bank account. The victim was shocked and said she couldn't accept the money, but he rejected her pleas to take it back.

A couple of weeks later, Clark sent her a Facebook message stating that he was at a hotel in Preston and wanted her to visit him. It dawned on the victim that the hotel was near where she lived, despite never giving him her address.

Clarke stalked her and bombarded her with messages on social media, which led her to block him on all of her accounts. He carried on messaging her from fake accounts and messaged her family and friends to say he was worried about her.

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In February last year, Clark messaged her Instagram account telling her "to be more careful on social media", and posted a Google image of her home.

She then received a friend request with a profile picture of her gym, which left her anxious that he would turn up there.

In March last year, Clark continued to bombard the victim under a new username of “you know me”, with one message demanding she give him back the £10,000 he had given her two years ago.

Two months later, the stalking continued, so the victim reported him to the police and he was arrested.

In police interview, Clark admitted messaging the victim’s family and friends to “check on her welfare” and apologised for leaving the victim feeling harassed.

On Tuesday (July 23) at Huntingdon Law Courts, Clark pleaded guilty to stalking involving serious alarm/distress. He was handed a prison sentence of two years and four months and a restraining order.

DC Lee Hurley said: "This awful experience left the victim feeling in genuine fear - every time she saw a car like his it caused her to panic. She constantly questioned herself and it made her feel paranoid.

"Stalking is a horrendous crime, and I would like to thank the victim for her courage and bravery in reporting this to the police. I hope this sentencing provides her with some sort of closure.”