Andrew Philip Russell – Pontefract

“He manipulated, controlled, and inflicted emotional and psychological damage that has left deep scars on our lives.”

These are the words of a traumatised victim of stalking as a Pontefract man was jailed for five years and four months.

Andrew Philip Russell, 35, was convicted of ‘stalking involving serious alarm or distress’ after a campaign of terrifying abuse spanning almost two years. He was jailed at York Crown Court on Friday 21 November.

Russell, who was in a relationship with another woman when he began to stalk the victim, went to great lengths to intimidate and cause the victim to fear for her life.

The victim initially believed she was being stalked by an ex-partner who was in prison for assaulting her, and who she believed was asking other people to target her on his behalf.

Unbeknown to her, it was actually Russell who was behind the threats and intimidation masking them as though they were orchestrated by the ex-partner from prison.

The campaign of abuse began with her car being fitted with a tracking device, followed by threatening messages from fake social media accounts, and numerous attempts to hack into her social media and email accounts.
Masquerading as her ex-partner, the threats included telling her that he was “angry at being in prison”, that he “wants to punish her” that “people were being paid to watch her”.

Terrifyingly, she came home one day to find her house had been broken into and later discovering that her wifi and security cameras had been disabled.

She then began to receive phone calls and voice messages threatening her and her family from an unknown person and voices she did not recognise.

Still believing the threats to be organised by her ex-partner who assaulted her, and not Russell, who was pretending to support her, the victim became so afraid of the threats and stalking, that she refused to attend court to give evidence against the ex-partner. Another witness in the case was also threatened with violence and he too refused to attend court.

However, as the abuse continued, the victim soon began to suspect that the threats and intimidation were not actually from her ex-partner at all, but from Russell himself.

The police investigation found that Russell was indeed behind the stalking campaign. He was caught when CCTV showed him topping up one of the multiple phone numbers used to stalk the victim.

The victim was forced to move home several times as each time Russell found her, on one occasion, claiming he taken a wrong turn down the street where she had moved to, forcing her to move and uproot her children yet again.

In her Victim Personal Statement, read out on her behalf at court, she said: “The prolonged abuse and manipulation have had a profound effect on my mental health. Living in constant fear, uncertainty, and instability has caused significant emotional distress on me and my children.

“I have experienced anxiety, and a persistent sense of insecurity, which has affected my ability to function day-to-day.

“The repeated upheaval and the responsibility of shielding my children from harm while coping with my own trauma have been overwhelming. Even now, I continue to struggle with trust and feelings of vulnerability, and I have required ongoing support and intervention to manage these effects.

“We have already served a sentence – living in fear, displaced, and traumatised.”

Detective Sergeant Michelle Neighbour, of North Yorkshire Police’s Stalking Support Team, said: “I want to recognise the victim in this case who has shown immense bravery throughout the last three years. Her life and that of her children have been turned upside down and completely disrupted by the actions of Russell, yet she had faith that justice would be served. I thank her for that as a dangerous manipulator is now behind bars.

“Despite his conniving attempts to evade prosecution using fake profiles to hide his identity, Russell was found out and while denying it throughout the investigation, audaciously claiming that he was also a victim, he eventually did the only right thing he could do, and pleaded guilty.

“This case demonstrates the incredible lengths that stalking perpetrators will go to in order to stalk their victims.

“The sentence imposed by His Honour Judge Morris highlights the serious nature of stalking and the impact this particular offence has had on the victim.

“Stalking can cause both psychological and physical harm and is taken extremely seriously at North Yorkshire Police. We have a dedicated Stalking Support Team that offers both tactical advice to investigating officers and safeguarding to high-risk stalking victims.

“If you are you receiving unwanted contact from anyone, including an ex-partner, then I urge you to report the matter as soon as possible.”

During the investigation we worked with West Yorkshire Police to obtain a Stalking Protection Order. An interim order was initially granted which give the police additional powers to prevent Russell from further offending and manage him in the community while he is under investigation or released from prison. A full order was later granted for five years, however, in court, HH Judge Morris asked that he is given a 10-year SPO on his release from prison.

The offences began when the victim lived in the Selby district.

How to report stalking and further advice ⬇️

• Call 101 to report stalking and harassment to the police
• If your safety is threatened, always call 999.
• There are many organisations who can help and offer advice – please see the links in the first comment

What to do if you are being stalked or harassed

If you, or someone you know, is being stalked or harassed there are things you can do to help deal with it. You don’t have to put up with this behaviour or suffer in silence.

• keep all contact with the stalker or harasser to a minimum
• do talk to trusted family, friends, neighbours, colleagues, or your manager about what’s happening, if you feel comfortable doing so
• trust your instincts and remember it’s not your fault

You don’t need to collect ‘evidence’ before you report stalking or harassment to us. If you are keeping a record of what’s happened, it’s useful if you:

• record each incident as soon as possible afterwards and note the time and date
• note details of any witnesses who may have seen or heard anything
• keep a record of how the person harassing you looked; for example details of what they were wearing or their vehicle
• keep messages or record any phone calls you receive
• ask neighbours, friends and people you work with to record any details if they witness anything