Filmmaker who bombarded friend with threatening messages from fake social media profiles jailed for stalking
‘I still don’t feel safe,’ victim says, describing how his abusive messages ‘made me feel smaller and smaller every single day’
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A 22-year-old filmmaker who bombarded a former friend with a barrage of threatening messages from anonymous social media accounts has been jailed.
Riagain Grainger, from County Tyrone in Northern Ireland was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison, after pleading guilty to a charge of stalking involving serious alarm and distress.
He and the 21-year-old woman had previously been friends while studying together in Manchester, but as the friendship deteriorated, he subjected her to an onslaught of messages sent from anonymous accounts, including threats to harm and kill her, Greater Manchester Police said.
Grainger’s campaign of fear, which his victim said has left her having “constant nightmares” and panic attacks, continued for three months from September 2019, and also included pictures of the woman’s home address – where he himself was witnessed on multiple occasions, according to police.
In a victim impact statement, the woman said: “It has been just over two years now since I received the first threatening message from one of Grainger’s many fake accounts. At first, I ignored them, hoping it was just some sort of spam account.
“But they kept coming, one by one, multiple in an hour, all from different accounts, for the next three months. It got so regular, that every time I would block an account, within five minutes, there would be a new one. I would wake up and have several different accounts messaging me, all with multiple messages.
“I could barely have a chance to breathe before there would be another.”
“Every time I would hear a phone ring, I would start crying, or shaking, at the fear that it might be for me. It didn’t matter if it was in real life or if it was on a TV show or a film – whenever I heard a phone ring, I would have a panic attack. Even if it was just a vibration. But it wasn’t just the fear of getting a message that was the issue, it was the fear of what those messages said.”
Each message “tore a different piece of my confidence away” and “made me feel the ugliest I have ever felt”, she continued, adding: “It made me feel smaller and smaller every single day, until I felt so small that I didn’t even want to leave my bedroom.
"I couldn’t do anything. Everything I did he was watching, and he was following. I would have multiple panic attacks everywhere I went. Anytime I saw anyone who looked remotely similar I would cry uncontrollably thinking it was him.
"I never felt safe. I still don’t feel safe. I still jump every time my phone rings. I still feel sick every time I get a message from an unknown account. I still have a panic attack every time I see someone who looks like him. I still can’t even step foot on a bus, thinking he might be there watching me
"I have constant nightmares about him – about him attacking me, hurting me. They started a couple of weeks after the messages started and they haven’t stopped. Even now, every single night I am woken up by him. Every single night he is torturing me again.”
Grainger, of Rosnareen Road, Trillick, was arrested on 24 October 2019, and was charged after searches of his mobile phone found images of the victim and her home address.
He admitted the offence of stalking at Manchester Crown Court in August 2021, and in addition to his prison sentence is also now subject to an indefinite stalking prevention order.
Detective Constable Thomas Small, of Longsight CID, said: “Stalking can have a devastating effect on a victim and their loved ones, and I hope this sentencing shows that we take any reports of stalking and harassment seriously, and is committed to bringing anyone found responsible to justice.
“Everyone has the right to live their life without fear and harassment, and Grainger made that impossible for this young woman.
“I would urge any victims of stalking or harassment to please take that brave step and report it to us. In an emergency call 999, in a non-emergency or to report an incident that has already happened, contact us via LiveChat on our website www.gmp.police.uk, or ring 101. National agencies such as Suzy Lamplugh and Paladin can also provide you with advice and support.”
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