‘Every time the phone rang I’d shake and cry’: Manchester student’s terror as stalker is finally jailed

A student turned film-maker has been jailed for two and a half years after admitting stalking his former university pal.

Riagain Grainger, 22,has also been given an indefinite order banning him from contacting his terrified victim.

Manchester Crown Court heard a harrowing witness statement from the 21-year-old woman, who had studied at the same local university as him and initially been friends with him.

The court heard when the friendship broke down, Grainger began to send her threatening messages and lurking near her home, sending her photos in a three-month ordeal.

The woman told of her terror at the 2019 offences in a statement read to the court.

‘I will never recover from it’

She said: “ I didn’t realise how long it would take me to accept that I am never going to recover from any of it. ..

“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. But it wasn’t just the fear of getting a message that was the issue, it was the fear of what those messages said.

“Those messages, each one of them tore a different piece of my confidence away. They made me feel the ugliest I have ever felt. It didn’t matter how small the comment was, 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 never felt safe. I still don’t feel safe. Even now, every single night I am woken up by him. Every single night he is torturing me again.”

What happened at court?

Grainger, of Rosnareen Road, Trillick, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, pleaded guilty to stalking involving fear of violence, serious alarm and distress.

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.”

• Support for victims of crime is available at www.gmvictims.org.uk or you can call 0161 200 1950.