Dangerous stalker jailed and banned from entering Cornwall

Cameron Duffy sent the woman hundreds of messages including one showing a skinned dead squirrel in which he threatened to do the same thing to her. He also wrote messages about cannibalism.

She became so frightened by his threats that she moved to Penryn, where she devised escape routes at her home so she could get away from him if he turned up there.

The victim had never been in a sexual relationship but had tried to help Duffy with developmental and mental health issues. The stalking started after she tried to distance herself because she was alarmed by his heavy drinking.

Duffy was jailed for 14 months by Judge David Evans at Exeter Crown Court (Image: D&C Police)

He threatened to bomb her home and to find her and kill her if she was seeing anyone else.

Duffy, aged 21, formerly of Exeter but of Paradise Place, Plymouth, admitted stalking that caused fear of violence and was jailed for 14 months by Judge David Evans at Exeter Crown Court.

He imposed an indefinite restraining order banning Duffy from any form of contact with the victim and banning him from entering Cornwall. He advised the probation service to fit a tracking GPS tag as a licence condition when he is released.

He told Duffy: “She may have seen you as a lost soul and provided friendship and support until she became wary of you. Your messages were unwanted, distressing and threatening and she made it quite clear she did not want any further contact with you.

“You must have understood that perfectly well but despite that you went on to contact her in hundreds of messages. They were a mixture of trying to reassure her about your behaviour but some were quite deliberately about your disturbing and murderous thoughts.

“The messages became increasingly serious. You said you intended to find her and you threatened violence. They became increasingly aggressive and scary the longer you continued sending them.

“They were more and more alarming and included bomb threats. He personal statement shows she is living in fear, she is afraid day and night, and in and out of her home. She is ready at any moment to flee.

“Your messages must have been intended to maximise her fear and distress.”

Mr Tom Bradnock, prosecuting, said Duffy was cautioned by the police in September 2022 but restarted his stalking in December, sending hundreds of messages and two death threats in the space if a few days.

He was arrested and they stopped until March 2023 when he sent her 322 WhatsApp messages in five days. He was detained under the mental health act for a time but in June they restarted and became more sinister.

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One said he hoped she would be drugged, raped and murdered and in another he sent an image showing a skinned animal and said he hoped she would end up like that. He also mentioned cannibalism.

She wrote a personal statement revealing that she lives in a state of permanent fear and has adapted her home to create easy escape routes.

Mr Warren Robinson, defending, said Duffy has a history of mental illness and alcohol abuse that explain some of his behaviour and for which he will receive treatment when he is released.