A TRILLICK filmmaker has been jailed after he admitted stalking a female student in Manchester and sending her a barrage of threatening messages over a three-month period.
Riagain Grainger (22), of Rosnareen Road, Trillick, has been sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison after pleading guilty to stalking involving fear of violence, serious alarm and distress.
Grainger had previously been friends with the 21-year-old woman while studying together at university, but when the friendship deteriorated, he began to send a barrage threatening messages from several anonymous accounts.
The messages continued for three months from September 2019, and included threats to harm and kill, as well as pictures of the victim’s home address.
Grainger was also seen near to the victim’s address on multiple occasions.
In a victim impact statement prepared for the court, the woman said that she still doesn’t feel safe.
She stated, “I still jump every time my phone rings. I still feel sick every time I get a message from an unknown account. I still have a panic attack every time I see someone who looks like him. I still can’t even step foot on a bus, thinking he might be there watching me
“I have constant nightmares about him – about him attacking me, hurting me. They started a couple of weeks after the messages started and they haven’t stopped. Even now, every single night I am woken up by him. Every single night he is torturing me again.”
Grainger, who has been working as filmmaker, was arrested on October 24, 2019, and following searches of his phone, images of the victim and her home address were found, and he was subsequently charged.
The defendant admitted the offences at Manchester Crown Court and is also subject to an indefinite stalking prevention order.
Detective Constable Thomas Small, of Longsight CID, said, “Stalking can have a devastating effect on a victim and their loved ones, and I hope this sentencing shows that we take any reports of stalking and harassment seriously, and is committed to bringing anyone found responsible to justice.
“Everyone has the right to live their life without fear and harassment, and Grainger made that impossible for this young woman.
“I would urge any victims of stalking or harassment to please take that brave step and report it to us.”
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