Graham Mansie: Driving instructor jailed for breaking stalking restraining order

Graham Mansie was described by his lawyer as "withdrawn and isolated"

A driving instructor has been jailed after he drove more than 200 miles to see an ex-pupil he had been stalking.

Graham Mansie, 53, of Beckenham, Kent, admitted breaching a restraining order by travelling from London to York where victim Maisie Relph, 19, was studying.

Mansie made the journey on 27 May, just nine days after the order had been imposed, York Crown Court heard.

Jailing him for 20 months, Judge Simon Hickey said the defendant had become "infatuated" with his pupil.

Imposing an indefinite restraining order, the judge warned Mansie the sentence for any future breach would be measured in years, not months.

The court was told that at about 23:20 BST on 27 May a flatmate of Ms Relph spotted the defendant sitting under a tree outside their campus accommodation.

University security and the police attended and found him sobbing and saw he had been self-harming, inflicting superficial cuts.

This happened just nine days after magistrates in Bromley, Kent, had handed the driving instructor a two-month jail sentence, suspended for a year, for stalking Ms Relph.

Maisie Relph said she hoped her tormentor had learned his lesson and she could now enjoy university life

In a victim statement, the psychology student said: "This crime has impacted me both emotionally and psychologically."

She said the stress of being stalked had led her to be diagnosed with severe anorexia and she was undergoing therapy.

"I think about what has happened every day, constantly worried and paranoid about what could happen," she said.

"I thought things genuinely could not get any worse after the previous incidents. However, when Mr Mansie breaks a legal order just nine days after sentencing, it leaves me to question if this will ever end.

"I am now a 19-year-old who is battling a severe mental illness and having to live with a 53-year-old stalker, whilst trying to get a degree."

Mother intervened

Giles Bridge, prosecuting, said Mansie, who had initially behaved appropriately, came to describe Ms Relph as his "favourite" pupil and set up social media accounts about her.

Mansie outlined his "strong" feelings in a long text message to Ms Relph, whose mother replied, telling him not to teach her daughter any more and to seek help.

But Mansie joined a WhatsApp group for her halls of residence in York and drove up to the campus in October last year, but did not enter her accommodation.

He was arrested and charged with stalking, for which he was handed the suspended sentence in May, but ignored the terms of the restraining order.

Graham Parkin, defending, said his client was withdrawn and isolated and had pleaded guilty at the first opportunity to breaching the restraining order and possessing a blade.

'Amazingly brave'

Ms Relph was supported in court by about 10 friends and after the hearing she thanked them, her university and the police for their support.

She said: "Hopefully now he [Mansie] will learn his lesson.

"I think I can now get my life back on track and enjoy university."

After the case, Det Con Michelle Neighbour, of North Yorkshire Police's Stalking Support Team, said: "We're pleased with today's sentence and hope it gives Maisie and her family and friends the reassurance that they can safely carry on with their lives, now that Mansie is behind bars.

"Having someone, who is ordered by the court to stay away from you, brazenly break that order within days and pursue you across the country is a terrifying experience.

"Maisie has been amazingly brave throughout this investigation and has remained committed to working with us over the past three months to ensure justice is served."