Chorleywood man sentenced for stalking his ex

A man from Chorleywood who stalked his ex by creating fictitious characters and enlisting the help of work colleagues has started a two year prison sentence.

Charles Vance, who is 43, and of Stag Lane, made up a woman named 'Hannah', to send threats to his ex, who police say was left fearing for their life.

He also pretended to be a victim of the same stalker and reported fictitious offences to police.

For this, he was convicted of perverting the course of justice, and sentenced to eight months in prison to run concurrently.

He was also given a five-year restraining order not to contact the victim.

Detective Constable Tilly Andrews said: “This was a really terrifying case for the victim who was fearful for her and her children’s lives.

"This was a particularly complex case because Vance created fictitious characters to conceal the defendants’ identities.

“ ‘Hannah’ was created as a fictitious ex-partner of the victims’ partner at the time and ‘Hannah’s brother’ was created as a fictitious character of ‘Hannah.’

Sean Kellard, age 32, of Newton Road, Newbury; Ryan Burton, age 25, of Mount Pleasant Lane in Bricket Wood, St Albans and David Black, age 30, of Anglefield Road, Caversham in Reading.

They were all sentenced for conspiracy to stalk involving fear of violence.