Man jailed for stalking BBC presenter Louise Minchin and her teenage daughter
“I hope it sends a clear message that people who make violent threats on social media can be found,” Ms Minchin said
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A man has been jailed for stalking BBC presenter Louise Minchin and her teenage daughter.
Carl Davies, 44, was sentenced to two years and eight months after he posted “intimidating” messages “intended to maximise fear and distress” to Ms Minchin and her teenage daughter Mia’s social media accounts over four days between July 14 and 17 2020.
Ms Minchin said she hoped the ruling “sends a clear message” to people who send threats online.
In a statement following legal proceedings at Mold Crown Court on Wednesday, Ms Minchin said the ruling “marks the end of what has been a very distressing time” for her and her daughter.
She added: “I would like to thank North Wales Police and The Crown Prosecution Service for their hard work and for successfully investigating and prosecuting the case.
“I hope it sends a clear message that people who make violent threats on social media can be found, can be prosecuted and can expect a prison sentence.”
The court heard how in one message to Ms Minchin, Davies wrote: “Move or you’re f*****”. In another message, he wrote: “Your daughter will definitely be raped”.
The messages were followed by their home address and the cars that were on their driveway at the time.
The ex-soldier commented on one of Ms Minchin’s photos, saying “You can see your garden from there”.
Ms Minchin and her daughter said the stalking had a “horrific, devastating, and lasting impact”, and they were still “traumatised” by it.
They also suffered from a “sense of deep distress”, the judge was told.
Prosecutor Brian Treadwell said: “The family do not feel safe and perhaps never will.”
Judge Nicola Saffman sentenced Davies to two years and eight months in prison, with an indefinite restraining order.
She said: “Clearly they would have been terrified by that, especially because it’s clear you knew where they lived and knew the details of cars that were on their drive.
“As a result they are both now hyper-vigilant, they still have a sense of deep distress one year on and the family still don’t feel safe.”
Davies, of Flint, North Wales, had previously been convicted in 2017 of stalking another woman, and for biting his father on the arm in 2019, the court heard.
He was previously handed a lifetime restraining order for threatening to stab and burn his ex-girlfriend, Girls Aloud singer Nicola Roberts.
He was due to face trial at Caernarfon Crown Court on Tuesday for two counts of stalking the presenter and her daughter but changed his pleas to guilty before the jury was sworn in.
Duncan Bould, who mitigated for Davies, said he had suffered from PTSD while serving in Iraq, and was never treated for the condition, despite being partly diagnosed in 2017.
Judge Saffman added she had taken Davies’ PTSD into account in sentencing and told probation officers he should be offered treatment options upon his release.