'Deluded and obsessive' Bristol stalker 'utterly ruined' hairdresser's life

A Bristol man who claimed in court "spirits" had told him to protect a hairdresser has been jailed for stalking and ordered not to enter Plymouth once released.

Clifford Floyd, of Ormonds Close, Bristol, was found guilty at Plymouth Crown Court after a jury heard how he had bombarded the woman - who cannot be identified for legal reasons - with nearly 50 voicemail messages after they went on a single date.

Following the date she blocked his phone number but he refused to take no for an answer and continued to send her voice message after voice message over a period of several months during 2023.

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He also went to her workplace to deliver a gift of a Dyson hair tool worth around £300 and a card, which claimed he was "just out shopping" and decided to buy it for her. The jury heard the woman had only told him she worked at a Plymouth hairdressers' and never told him the name or location of the business.

She told police she felt unnerved about the gift and unblocked him to say it was "totally unacceptable" to come to her workplace, it was unwanted and told him to "never come to my workplace again".

However, the court heard he continued to contact her, sending voicemails which the jury listened to, including one where he said: "I did fall in love with you when I saw you that day and I thought I was a bit bonkers, but I don't think I was. Because I love you darling. I love you with all my heart and there's not another person I want to be with, hold hands with, kiss - do you remember our first kiss?". The woman told the jury she did not recall kissing him on their only date.

Floyd, aged 58, even used another woman, who was described in court as a "clairvoyant or psychic medium" to try and lure his victim to a meeting with him at an Airbnb, making up a story about her wanting to get her autistic daughter's hair cut at a her 'lodgings' rather than the hairdressers.

He was eventually arrested on October 19 after sending her a voicemail claiming that he had been "ordered by God" to call her. He said God had told him she "may be in danger" and that a man in London was on his way to Plymouth and that she was "in danger and he might hurt you darling".

The court heard Floyd said God had ordered him to "head down to Plymouth... and I'm on my way". Floyd said that he was to tell her that God said she should either call the police or "you've got to meet me somewhere love... and I've told you many time that I can protect you."

He added: "I'm really going out on a limb here because I don't know if God is feeding me duff information but I've got to do as I'm told today, he tells me, in order to protect you. And you know how I feel about you."

The terrified woman called police and Floyd was stopped by officers police on the A38. A search of his care revealed a black air pistol in a case, a Glock model air pistol, ammunition for the air pistol, a lock knife in a bag and a steak knife in his boot, a CO2 cannister for the pistols, binoculars, a map of Dartmoor, an AtoZ of Plymouth, a series of notepads and a book titled 'Unnatural Causes - the Life and Many Deaths of Britain's Top Forensic Pathologist', some foreign currency and Floyd's passport.

In addition, the car contained an emerald ring from Drakes Jewellers in Drake Circus, in Plymouth, which Floyd bought on May 22, 2023, long after she had told him she was not interested and he should leave her alone. The court heard that with additional insurance the ring had cost Floyd a total of £2,978.70.

In court, Floyd told the jury he was convinced the woman was being coerced and controlled by others to reject him. He insisted when he met the Plymouth woman he was dating "four other women", adding "I'm not a man that women reject - but I have to let them down gently".

He also explained that his "guides" would give him information about where the woman might be and he used a "pendulum" where he "asked it questions and it doesn't answer those questions, it just tells me what it wants to tell me". He admitted that one of his handwritten notes in his car said "pendulum said [woman's name] loves Cliff".

At the sentencing hearing on Tuesday (April 23) prosecutor Victoria Bastock read the woman's three victim impact statements - the first two written during the period of offending. In the first two the woman said she was struggling to sleep, had lost a stone in weight through worry, was paranoid he was watching her all the time and that every time the hairdressers' door opened she was afraid it was him. By the second statement she said she felt "terrified" and "sick". She added: "I'm scared that he is of the mentality that if he can't have me, no-one can."

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In her third and most recent statement, she wrote that her "life and family lives have been torn apart" by Floyd's stalking. She said she felt that she had no choice but to leave Plymouth for her own safety and had struggled to be away from her home. She said she had been "financially crippled" and was reduced to "taking handouts to feed myself". She revealed she had to call the Mental Health Crisis Team, adding she was "simply exhausted with living".

She said by comparison Floyd - who was granted bail after he was found guilty of stalking and possession of two knives in a public place - was "living his best life". She said while he had his "delusional beliefs" she life would "never be the same again" due to his "disgusting behaviour".

She wrote how he had caused her the "highest level of psychological, emotional and financial harm" by his actions. She was now "too frightened to go home" adding "I don't want to be frightened any more". She wrote that he while he had been found guilty and would be sentenced by the court, "through no fault of my own I've been given a life sentence".

In mitigation, his advocate Phillipa Harper said Floyd was of previous good character, was a "family man" with a grown up son who was a police officer, and that he cared for his elderly mother. She said he had a circle of support by people who considered him "kind, honourable, intelligent" and that he did "pro-bono work for charities".

She said there was "no ill intent" in his actions, but had "perhaps a delusional belief" the woman felt the same way about him. She said he expressed a "degree of remorse" and was "coming to terms that his actions were wrong".

Ms Harper noted a psychiatric report found he was "likely suffering from manic episodes" at the time of the offences and could be considered a "vulnerable" defendant who was suffering "difficult mental health issues". She said he also had a number of physical health issues including serious bowel surgery and had been in a coma. She said there was concerns over possible PTSD as a result of ailments he suffered.

She said Floyd developed a fixation with "only one person" and was not a danger to the wider public. She said a probation reports suggested there was a "strong prospect of rehabilitation" and that he was expected to have an MRI scan in the coming weeks. She stated that Floyd's actions were "out of character" and were "a blip".

Judge Neil Davey KC said he was not satisfied on the evidence he heard or read that Floyd was carrying knives for any "sinister purpose" and so would add no separate penalty on those two charges.

However, he said it was "plain that you did become obsessed" with the woman. In addition, noting how he hatched a plan to use a clairvoyant as an "asset" as he had told the court, to lure the hairdresser to an Airbnb, Judge Davey KC said the plan was "not simply criminal - which it was - and not simply outrageous - which is was - it was positively wicked."

"Goodness only knows what you had in store for her. Whatever it was then had she turned up at the Airbnb she would have found the experience absolutely terrifying whether you were there or not."

He said the message he left the woman shortly before he made his trip from Bristol to Plymouth on the day he was arrested was "extremely frightening and concerning." Judge Davey KC told Floyd it was probably not today, nor next week or even next month, but in due course he would have to bring himself to realise that "your deluded, obsessive pursuit has utterly ruined her life".

He took into account the evidence, the good character and mitigation, and noted he had "many good qualities", but noted the harm caused and culpability. As such he could not suspend the sentence and his starting point of three years and nine months would be reduced by a third to two years and six months. He said Floyd would serve half before being released.

In addition, he made Floyd subject of a restraining order, not to contact the woman by any means, electronic, online or otherwise and not to enter Plymouth under any circumstances until further notice.

Floyd, dressed in a dark suit, white shirt and purple tie, remained impassive as he was taken down to the cells.

Lead investigator, Det Con Po Yung of Plymouth CID said: "I want to thank the victim for bravely coming forwards and giving evidence and thank her support network who were invaluable. It was a very unique case and there is no typical victim, offender or behaviour when it comes to stalking. This jail sentence for Mr Floyd should act as a warning to others that this type of offending is not acceptable and can result in the loss of one's liberty and reputation."

"It is currently National Stalking Awareness Week and I would encourage people who find themselves in this situation to contact the police and not suffer in silence. There are agencies out there who offer advice and support such as the Suzie Lamplugh Trust."