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Amanda Playle, a mother-of-three, didn’t expect when she would finally discover her stalker of two years real identity, that it would be her husband.
Between December 2015 and June 2017, Amanda was subjected to intense and constant stalking, including hundreds of harassing messages which almost lead her to take her own life.
In a shocking twist, the UK mum would eventually discover that it was her husband of 25 years, having assumed the identity of a childhood boyfriend.
‘I just didn’t believe it, I didn’t want to believe it,’ she said on British television program This Morning. ‘I was adamant to the police that they had this wrong.’
‘He was my rock. I always said to people this stalker knew my thoughts and inner feelings. But actually, he was sat right beside me.’
Paul Playle used a fake email to set up a Facebook account and over the coming years Amanda endured threatening messages saying he knew where she was, disgusting comments about exs, her family and friends.
It wasn’t until he was spotted on CCTV taking a photo of Amanda at Gatwick Airport in the UK, that police were able to trace the activity back to him.
The worst part? Paul was at home to comfort Amanda when things reached their lowest.
Her victim impact statement read: ‘Terrified to leave the house, go to work or the shop across the road.
‘I panic when my phone goes off. I’m embarrassed and I burst into tears for no reason. To think it was the one person I believed I could always trust. I no longer trust anyone anymore.’
In January Paul was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison charges of stalking and coercive and controlling behaviour.
This article originally appeared on New Idea.
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