Stalker who was 'obsessed' with her victims jailed

A woman has been jailed for making the lives of a couple "a living hell", after stalking, harassing and threatening to kill them.

Nina Tiptaft, 24, of Ridgemon Road, Stroud, was sentenced to a year in prison after admitting that she harassed a man and woman.

She also threatened to burn down a pub, the Prince Albert.

At the time of the offences, Tiptaft was subject to a restraining order and a suspended prison sentence imposed for similar harassment of the same victims.

Judge Robert Lowe said Tiptaft bombarded the pair with phone calls, emails and messages on social media.

He accepted a psychiatrist's view that she has "significant" autistic characteristics and a personality disorder.

Mr Lowe added that Tiptaft had expressed no real desire to stop her offending.

During sentencing at Gloucester Crown Court on Friday, Mr Lowe explained how Tiptaft became "obsessed" with her victims after becoming acquaintances with a victim in 2018.

"You started pestering them.

"You were sending handwritten letters to the pub where she used to work, emails, contacting her on social media - sometimes 100 emails a day and many, many calls," he said.

One victim began distancing herself from Tiptaft, becoming "alarmed" by her behaviour.

In June, the couple contacted the police, and a community resolution with conditions to prevent contact from Tiptaft was imposed.

But within days, she disobeyed the order.

Tiptaft was arrested in September and given a six-month suspended prison sentence for two years as well as a drug rehabilitation order.

But in January, Tiptaft began making "endless calls" to the pub, making sexual threats, and sending emails from a false account.

In a victim impact statement, one victim said Tiptaft's actions had left her "terrified" to leave the house.

Judge Lowe described her offences as "life ruining".

"[The victims] have had to put their lives on hold," he said.

"They cannot function like normal people in society because you have targeted them and made them feel alarmed and miserable.

"You have made these peoples' lives a living hell."

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