EX-SOLDIER WHO STALKED WOMAN FOR 3 YEARS AVOIDS JAIL
Clive Hamilton, 31, an ex-soldier, was convicted for stalking a woman over a period of three years.He previously had two harassment convictions from 2012.
Hamilton bombarded his victim with relentless texts, emails, and over 300 Facebook messages from August 2014 to April 2017.
Despite leaving the army in 2009, he falsely claimed to her that he was training at Sandhurst and even showed her his ID to convince her he was a real 007 agent.
They initially met when she was working in a bar, and after a romantic encounter, he started online stalking when she refused to meet him again.
His stalking intensified when she moved abroad to Australia.
He created multiple Facebook and Instagram accounts to contact her and even contacted her mother in a bid to reach her.
Hamilton sent her a Christmas card with a £300 cheque and continued messaging her after discovering her email address.
In a victim impact statement, she expressed her fear: 'These messages have been sent to me over a long period of time.
I always feel I’m looking over my shoulder.
I feel he is unpredictable and I’m not sure what he will do next.
He has fantasized a relationship which is not true.' The court sentenced him to a 10-week suspended jail term for two years and imposed an indefinite restraining order.
Hamilton claimed he was in love with her and believed she would eventually calm down.
Magistrate Sara Caton emphasized the seriousness of the case because of his past convictions and the sustained nature of his stalking behavior.
He was also ordered to attend a 50-day rehabilitation course and pay £250 in costs.
