'I was targeted by cruel stalker - it left me fearing for my life and ruined my marriage'

An Essex mum who was targeted by a cruel stalker claims the ordeal left her fearing for her life and ruined her marriage. Kristen Dugdale, 31, was targeted by Matthew Hardy over a two-year online campaign.

Hardy - dubbed Britain's worst cyber stalker - was locked up for nine years for stalking involving fear of violence and harassment after breaking a restraining order in January 2022. Kristen was first contacted in February 2019 by an anonymous Instagram account claiming they had an important message about her then-husband.

It was the start of a two-year ordeal which Kristen claims saw Hardy accusing her of sleeping with her then-husband's father and using her images to sell adult content. He even subjected her to a barrage of anonymous phone calls and insults - calling her "disgusting" and telling her to "stick to taking your clothes off".

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Kristen was convinced she knew the perpetrator and stopped trusting those close to her. She says it drove a wedge between her and her now ex-partner. She contacted police but the abuse didn't stop until Hardy was arrested in February 2020 and charged in March 2021. Kristen was not involved in the court case against Hardy - which saw him please guilty of stalking involving fear of violence and harassment after breaking a restraining order against nine victims and jailed for nine years- but police confirmed she was a victim of the prolific stalker.

Hardy - who created hundreds of fake social media accounts - is believed to have targeted 63 victims over 11 years, according to reports. Mum-of-one Kristen, from Essex, said she's still haunted by his messages. She said: "He contacted me on my modelling Instagram account that I used for networking and posed as a woman from Manchester. I didn't recognise the account handle or anything at all.

"I was scared for my life at one point," she added. "I lost my confidence and my trust in people around me. I ended up getting into a lot of arguments with my ex over it. It affected our relationship and was a contributing factor to the breakdown of our marriage. I was so affected, I had to quite my job as a model.

"I miss modelling not just because I loved it but I also got paid - so I've lost a financial element too. Before I knew it was Hardy sending me these messages - this random person from a place I had never been to - I was questioning everyone around me. I'd never experienced stalking before. He was the first and worst."

The former model began receiving regular phone calls - often multiple times a day - and abusive messages from numbers she did not recognise. She says sometimes she would receive calls where the person would stay silent or breathe into the end of the phone.

She would also get sent texts saying she wouldn't be left alone, reminding her that he knew her family, as well as calling her "fat". Fake profiles pretending to be her started popping up on Instagram – with Kristen saying some accounts were even seeming to sell adult content using her images.

She says the fake accounts reached out to photographers she had worked with in the past and old-school friends. It is claimed Hardy seemed to know the names of her friends and family - mentioning her ex-husband's pals' names, and even their wives and girlfriend's names.

It made her believe the person hounding her online was someone she knew in person. And she says Hardy became so brazen he messaged people she knew from his personal Facebook.

In one instance he contacted her and her ex-partner's dad directly to accuse them of sleeping together - to Kristen’s horror. Despite first contacting Wiltshire Police in September 2019, the campaign of abuse continued until Hardy was arrested - and all contact stopped.

Hardy was convicted of stalking involving fear of violence and harassment after breaking a restraining order against nine other victims at Cheshire Crown Court on January 26 2022 following an investigation by PC Kevin Anderson with Cheshire Police. Kristen's final interaction with the cyberstalker was on October 26, 2020, when she told him she'd contacted the police.

She says he replied asking why they hadn't charged him previously despite having evidence. But Kristen says the experience has stuck with her and still affects her now.

She said: “It was so scary at that time – I started accusing people I knew, I didn't trust anyone. He seemed to know loads of really personal stuff about me, it was just awful, he alienated me from trusting some of my ex-partner’s friends and even family. I found it strange in the end how he didn't even conceal his identity – it was like he wanted to get caught but thought he was invincible and nothing would happen. The last thing I said to him is I wouldn’t stop until he was in jail.

"I was very shocked by how high his sentence was – people do worse things and get less time, so I was happy with the sentence. But there was no urgency to my case. I felt like there were so many hoops to jump through to get anywhere. This needs to be stopped in its tracks before it gets to such a serious level, [the police] waited until it got really bad.

“When I found out [it was Hardy], I told the police it was him and they didn’t believe me, it felt like I had to do their job for them, and they couldn’t do anything until something serious happened. People need to be aware, and police need to take this kind of thing a bit more seriously.

"To anyone experiencing cyberstalking, report it as soon as you can. Keep as much evidence as possible and if more happens, make sure to keep it because the more you have, the easier it is to find who they are. Don't let it drop because sick people like Hardy have no right to ruin another person's life."

Police Constable Kevin Anderson from Northwich Local Policing Unit, confirmed that Kristen was a victim of Hardy's. He added: “Having led on this case for more than 18 months I have seen the emotional distress and turmoil that Hardy has inflicted on his victims – he did all of this while hiding behind his computer screen. The impact on those affected by his actions has been immense, causing some of them to change some of their daily habits, and live in constant fear that they were being watched.

"On other occasions, it caused them to lose trust in their friends and family members and even led to the breakdown of long-term relationships. Thankfully, Hardy has now been held accountable for his actions, and his online activity has finally been brought to a stop. I hope that the conclusion of this case will provide some closure for his victims and enable them to rebuild and move forward with their lives.”