A jealous ex-girlfriend who tore her former lover’s life apart using “sophisticated catfish-style behaviour” has been jailed for nine months.
Lauren Adderley, 21, of Telford, Shropshire, used various trickery including fake email addresses and bogus social media profiles to trick ex-partner Mitchell Lloyd, 22, into believing he was part of a police investigation.
Addreley, who had become jealous after the pair’s two-month fling had ended, made Lloyd believe he was under a strict curfew and would be eligible to pay hefty fines if he didn’t abide by particular conditions, such as not seeing specific people and avoiding certain places.
The young woman used a variety of fake email addresses to pose as several fictitious police officers communicating with Lloyd, telling him not to see or speak to his friends or other girls.
She also pretended to be her own friends and chastise him when he attempted to start up new relationships with other women.
Shrewsbury Crown Court heard Adderley had entered into a brief sexual relationship with Mr Lloyd in September 2014. However, this ended after two months when he broke it off.
The end of the couple’s short fling prompted Adderley to tell Lloyd that she had previously been the victim of a crime and to ask him to give evidence.
It was at this point that the former administration assistant took on the persona of police officer ‘Robert Hay’.
Between December 2014 and February 13 this year, Adderley continued to contact her victim using three email addresses belonging to fictional officers.
Lloyd’s life was torn apart by the abuse and he eventually went to the police in February after confiding in colleagues.
Sentencing, Recorder Peter Rouch QC, said: “I do not know what was going through your mind in December 2014 but at that time you decided to deliberately adopt the persona of a police officer to contact Mitchell Lloyd.
“At that time, he did not want a relationship with you.
“For two years you controlled Mitchell Lloyd’s life, to the extent that you told him where he could go and who he could go out with.
“He believed that he was being sent emails by genuine police officers, and that these were real demands that he had to follow.
“These are serious crimes, as he could not live his life properly during the two years that you committed these offences.
“You did that for your own benefit, whatever that may have been.”
Paul Smith, defending, added: “Perhaps the key point in mitigation other than the early plea is her age. She was 18 when the offences began back in 2014.
“She has no previous convictions and has taken full responsibility for what she did.”
Adderley has been jailed for nine months.
