Gracie Spinks inquest: Killer 'spied on colleague using company CCTV'

Gracie Spinks, 23, was "funny, happy, talkative and friendly" according to a colleague

A man who killed his former colleague had previously watched her on company CCTV and asked other colleagues to "spy" on her, an inquest has heard.

Michael Sellers, who was said to be "obsessed" with Gracie Spinks, stabbed her to death when she went to see her horse in Duckmanton, Derbyshire.

He is then believed to have killed himself a short distance away.

Sellers had been dismissed from his job at e-commerce firm Xbite after Miss Spinks complained about him.

'So many red flags'

Lee Bingham, who was operations manager at Xbite and investigated her complaint, told the inquest that Sellers "did not believe he had done anything wrong", despite watching Miss Spinks on CCTV and asking colleagues to spy on her.

"I pointed out that she had said she wanted to be left alone a number of times and he did not believe he had done anything wrong," said Mr Bingham, giving evidence at Chesterfield Coroner's Court.

"He did not recognise that he was doing anything wrong and as I investigated this, there were so many red flags; Gracie saying no, being asked to be left alone, him waiting in a lay-by, just so many red flags.

"There were just red flags all over the place."

Michael Sellers, who was 35, met Gracie Spinks when they worked together at Xbite

The inquest into Miss Spinks's death has heard that Sellers had previously given unwanted attention to at least seven other female Xbite employees.

However, he carried on working for the company, while some of his female colleagues left because of him.

'No disciplinary action'

Mr Bingham said he had been aware of past issues concerning Sellers' behaviour towards two other women.

The second took place in March 2020, when Sellers followed a female colleague to the car park and questioned her about contact with another man, he said.

Mr Bingham said he advised the company's HR team to issue a warning or launch disciplinary action "at the very least", but he did not believe this was ever taken forward.

Gracie Spinks, shown here with her father Richard Spinks, joined Xbite in April 2020

The company's HR manager, Tracie Otter, said she was aware of issues between Sellers and at least four other women, which concerned him messaging them outside of work and researching and contacting their friends.

She was asked what action was taken against Sellers, but she believed he was only ever spoken to informally.

"I believe he was spoken to quite a few times," Mrs Otter said.

"I believe it was informal conversations at that point.

"I believe that people just thought that he just liked people and because of the person that he was, he could not articulate that very well.

"I know that there were conversations that had happened, I just think that people did not believe that there was anything serious going on."

She was asked by Narita Bahra KC, the barrister representing Miss Spinks's family, why none of these women were advised to report their concerns to the police.

Mrs Otter replied: "I don't think anybody thought that something like this would ever happen.

"I don't think people thought that anything that serious had actually happened."

Gracie was murdered after going to look after her horse Paddy at stables in Duckmanton on 18 June 2021

Sellers then met Miss Spinks when she joined the company in April 2020.

Her friend and colleague Corey Martin said he had "never met a more beautiful soul" and described her as "funny, happy, talkative and friendly".

The inquest has previously heard that Sellers and Miss Spinks met up a few times outside of work, but she told him she did not want to have a relationship with him in a Facebook message on 16 December 2020.

However, Mr Martin said Sellers - who was his supervisor - was "totally obsessed" with Miss Spinks.

Sellers eventually asked him to report back on what Miss Spinks was doing and who she was speaking to, Mr Martin said, and disclosed that he would watch her on CCTV.

Then, on 4 January 2021, Miss Spinks saw Sellers waiting in a lay-by close to Blue Lodge Farm, where her horse was stabled and where Sellers later killed her on 18 June 2021.

Miss Spinks reported Sellers to the company and, later, Derbyshire Police.

Xbite's investigation found he had harassed Miss Spinks and abused his power in relation to Mr Martin, and he was dismissed for gross misconduct.

The inquest, which is expected to take several weeks, is due to hear more about how police responded to Miss Spinks's report.