Obsessed Luton man jailed for stalking his ex-partner

A man from Luton has been jailed for the persistent stalking of a woman between December 2018 and May 2021.

Michael Clissold, 38, of Hallwicks Road, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to three years imprisonment, after he repeatedly contacted his ex-partner and created fake social media profiles in order to trick her into speaking with him.

The offences dated back to December 2018 and January 2019 when for a period of one-week Clissold sent a barrage of hundreds of messages, phone calls and voicemails using a variety of different phone numbers. He then continued the stalking behaviour by attempting to contact her and creating fake social media profiles in order to trick the victim.

He also made false allegation claiming that she had hit him with his vehicle to manipulate her into talking to him.

His obsessive behaviour culminated on May 13, 2021 when he made threats of hurting himself and then assaulted the victim’s family member.

Clissold was sentenced on Wednesday, August 25, to three years imprisonment for stalking. He was also issued with restraining order prohibiting him from contacting the victim.

The victim shared her experience in her personal statement: “During the time he has been stalking me, I knew how he would react if he didn’t like what I had to say or if I upset him or would trigger him. He would overtake my life with his behaviour.

“I’ve had to implement a safety contingency plan in case he would have one of his episodes. My health has got worse due to the stress he has put me through and I am only now getting back to some kind of normality.”

PC Neil Chappell, from the Bedfordshire Police Emerald unit, said: “Clissold could not accept that his relationship with the victim has ended. He attempted to coerce her into coming back to him by any means necessary.

“In the course of his stalking behaviour he made threats to the victim about hurting her, and himself.

"He called her hundreds of times and created fake profiles to trick her into talking to him. In his mind they were in a happy relationship and he did everything in his power to maintain that illusion. We are satisfied that he admitted his guilt in court and the victim can move on with her life.”

Stalking is described as a pattern of unwanted, fixated and obsessive behaviour which is intrusive. It can include harassment that amounts to stalking, or stalking that causes fear of violence or serious alarm or distress.

It has been linked to some of the highest harm crimes, including domestic abuse, sexual offences and murder, and is most often about control of one person by another.

The mnemonic FOUR, Fixated, Obsessive, Unwanted, Repeated, describes stalking behaviour, and this contact can be in person, by gifts, or via social media, email or messaging apps.

To report stalking, call police on 101. In the case of an emergency, always dial 999.

Or you can call the National Stalking Helpline on 0808 802 0300, or speak with Paladin, the National Stalking Advocacy on 0203 866 4107.

If you’ve been affected by crime, Signpost can offer free, confidential help, whether you’ve reported it or not. Contact 0800 0282 887.