Brighton stalker Jamie Spears admits campaign targeting model

Jamie Spears targeted model and dancer Abigail Furness in Brighton.

He created social media accounts to contact the young woman and at one stage even flew out to Ibiza where she was working.

“I live life in constant fear for my safety,” she said. “I felt apprehensive and terrified that he will continue to wait outside my house and monitor my daily activity.”

Spears appeared at Lewes Crown Court where it was revealed he had breached a stalking protection order not to contact Ms Furness.

His Honour Judge Martin Huseyin imposed an eight-month suspended prison sentence and put Spears under curfew for eight weeks.

Lewes Crown Court.

The court heard how Ms Furness, who has performed as a nightclub dancer in Ibiza and as a fire dancer in Brighton, reported how his behaviour lasted from June until December last year.

Louise Walls, prosecuting, said Spears followed her social media accounts and said there was “unwanted communication” from him to her.

Spears discovered her parents' address and delivered a birthday card there for her. He followed her out to Ibiza last summer where she was working in a bar.

A stalking protection order was made, but just 12 days later Spears broke it, creating Facebook accounts to like her posts.

“It caused her a great deal of distress,” Ms Walls said.

Jamie Spears admitted a campaign of stalking model and dancer Abby Furness in Brighton

There was an exclusion zone set up around her home in Brighton, but Spears, of Westfield Crescent, Brighton, was seen loitering outside.

On one occasion he was seen by her housemates hiding in the garden shed for 45 minutes in an attempt to speak with her, the court was told.

“This was a serious, persistent breach,” Ms Walls said. “When she asked him to leave he refused to do so, so she had to shout and scream for her friends.”

In a statement read to the court, Ms Furness said: “I live life in constant fear for my safety. I felt apprehensive and terrified that he will continue to wait outside my house and monitor my daily activity.

“I feel he has already taken my life, my confidence and my self-esteem. This has affected my career prospects, friendships and relationships. How much longer will he continue victimising me?”

Sarah Thorne, defending, said her client has been diagnosed on the autistic spectrum. He had been working before the first coronavirus lockdown, then he was furloughed before losing his job.

Jamie Spears admitted a campaign of stalking model and dancer Abby Furness in Brighton

He has suffered from anxiety and depression as a result, and wanted to seek help but was told he had to wait for two years because of the impact of the pandemic.

Judge Huseyin said Spears’s behaviour was “calculated, deliberate, persistent and intensive” and had caused distress for Ms Furness in her everyday life.

He told Spears to complete 30 rehabilitation sessions with the probation service and the Obsessive Compulsive programme.

“You have got to completely leave this woman alone,” the judge warned.

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