Woman told police stalker’s behaviour ‘could get worse’ before he killed her

Gracie Spinks reported Michael Sellers to Derbyshire Police four months before he stabbed her 10 times (Picture: Facebook)

Gracie Spinks phoned police to say her workplace stalker ‘wouldn’t leave her alone’ and she was worried ‘the next time it happens it could be worse’ before he later killer her, an inquest has heard.

Ms Spinks, 23, reported Michael Sellers to Derbyshire Police four months before he stabbed her 10 times as she tended her horse at Blue Lodge Farm in Duckmanton, Derbyshire, then took his own life.

She had reported him to their employer, e-commerce firm xbite, in January 2021 and called police on 101 on February 4 after declining to pursue a romantic relationship with him the previous December.

In the call, played to the jury on Thursday, Ms Spinks said: ‘As soon as I called it off he was getting weirder and weirder.’

She tells the call handler: ‘Well, quite a few things have happened. Basically, me and this supervisor, we was [sic] messaging a bit on [Facebook] Messenger and stuff, getting to know each other, and then I called it off because I didn’t have no [sic] feelings for him, and then he became obsessed with me and wouldn’t leave me alone.

‘Basically loads of things happened, and then on January 4 before work, he was sat waiting at my horse’s field, waiting for me to go there, which scared me a lot.

‘So I drove straight to work, and I told work, and they have been doing a big massive investigation on him and he got suspended.

‘He got the sack but then now he is trying to appeal it, saying that I’m a liar and this other person is a liar.

‘I don’t want anything to happen, I don’t want him to be arrested or anything, but I just want something to be on file and for me to report this because my work have [sic] said things have happened like this in the past and that this is the worst one that has happened.

‘They have said that every time this has happened at work, it has got worse and worse, and I’m just worried that, you know, the next time it happens to someone else, it could be worse than just following me and not leaving me alone.

‘He might kidnap someone.’

Gracie reported him to their employer, e-commerce firm xbite, in January 2021 and called police on 101 on February 4 (Picture: Facebook)

Sellers later took his own life (Picture: Facebook)

Gracie goes on to tell the call handler she ‘just wants something on file’ in case Sellers repeats the same behaviour in his next job.

She says: ‘I feel like if he comes and tries to find me again or shows up at my house or shows up at my yard again, I want something on file for it and I am worried that because he has lost job and he goes to the next place, my work can’t tell them what has happened.’

The call handler replies: ‘Right, OK, so you say he has done it before?’

Ms Spinks goes on: ‘Yeah, at my work, yeah, he has done it to other girls at the warehouse, yeah, which I didn’t know but my work since it’s all come out have told me that every single time it’s got weirder and weirder, he has followed people home, you know, after they finish work.’

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PC Sarah Parker, who initially investigated the case, told Chesterfield Coroner’s Court that Sellers was only given ‘words of advice’ as Ms Spinks did not support a prosecution.

She was assigned to the case the next day after two separate police sergeants had assessed the 101 call and concluded there was a ‘real and immediate risk to (Ms Spinks’) safety’.

In a report on February 18, PC Parker said: ‘He (Sellers) should at least get some words of advice and (I) asked (Ms Spinks) to think about it.

Ms Spinks described Sellers as ‘being a complete weirdo’ and that he ‘could kidnap someone’ (Picture: Facebook)

‘She decided she wanted words of advice given but decided she did not support any kind of prosecution.

‘I have seen Sellers today. He seemed to believe he was in a relationship with Ms Spinks. I told him this is not the case and told him not to contact her again.’

In a later statement, PC Parker said Sellers ‘seemed nervous but accepted what I was saying and he agreed that he would not contact her’.

PC Parker told the court that she did not fill in and had never seen a key risk assessment form, known as a 490, despite Derbyshire Police telling all officers months earlier that one should be filed in all stalking cases.

She also said she received no training from the force on stalking cases, agreeing with Narita Bahra KC, representing Ms Spinks’ family, that she was ‘effectively left to her own devices’ on the subject.

No recording was made of her conversation with Ms Spinks, and while the conversation with Sellers was recorded on her bodycam, this was not saved and was automatically deleted a month later.

When asked if she should have recorded more information related to her risk assessment, PC Parker replied: ‘I do accept that my updates on the crime report are not as full as they should be.’

Gracie said she feared what would happen if he was successful with an appeal against the dismissal but that she did not want Sellers arrested, instead wanting ‘something to be on file’ (Picture: PA)

During her inquiries, she spoke to Lee Bingham, the operations manager at xbite, who informed her that he was aware of Sellers making inappropriate contact with two further women.

The inquest has previously heard that Sellers had harassed eight women before Ms Spinks, at least four of whom had raised Sellers’ conduct with xbite.

When asked by the coroner, Matthew Kewley, why she did not investigate previous complaints, PC Parker said: ‘Nothing had been disclosed that made me think I need to report more offences. I still considered it to be low risk.

‘I wish now, knowing what has happened, I had requested that but at the time, based on the information I had been given, I did not think it was a proportionate enquiry.’

PC Parker said that in hindsight, she agreed that Sellers’ behaviour was ‘fixated’ and that she would have both upgraded his risk level and would ‘certainly’ have interviewed him under caution.

The inquest continues.

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