Obsessed stalker jailed after 10-month campaign

A Halifax man who hounded a social media star with threats, fake accounts & relentless messages is behind bars after a chilling 10-month stalking campaign. A Halifax man who waged a ten-month campaign of stalking against a woman with a substantial online following has been jailed for five years following his guilty plea at Northampton Crown Court.

Marc Stevenson, 42, of Grange Bank, Shelf, began contacting the woman in May 2024 under the guise of warning her that her images were being misused on a fake online profile. She replied briefly to confirm the profile was not hers — unaware that this would mark the beginning of a sustained and escalating pattern of harassment.

Over the following months, Stevenson’s actions intensified. He made repeated calls through Google Chat, created multiple fake accounts to monitor and message the woman, her partner and their friends, and sent a stream of unsolicited sexual messages. By late summer, his conduct had shifted from fixation to calculated intrusion, extending his surveillance to her and her partner’s workplaces, which he also began contacting directly.

From September 2024, the tone of Stevenson’s communications darkened further. His messages ranged from overtly threatening — including “I am going to teach you a lesson” and “I will punish you” — to disturbingly delusional, declaring his desire to marry her and claiming he had secured employment nearby so that they could become “neighbours”.

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In December, the situation escalated once more when he emailed her to say he had moved house specifically to live closer. By this point, the woman had contacted Northamptonshire Police. Stevenson was arrested the following month and interviewed by officers from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID North).

Despite being released on bail, Stevenson continued his campaign. On one occasion he approached the woman while she was shopping, in direct breach of his bail conditions. His behaviour led to charges of stalking involving fear of violence, serious alarm or distress, and he was remanded in custody pending trial.

At Northampton Magistrates’ Court in January this year, Stevenson entered a guilty plea to the single count of stalking. The case was subsequently committed to the Crown Court, where he was sentenced on 24 October to five years’ imprisonment and made subject to an indefinite restraining order prohibiting any future contact with the victim or her associates.