Latest news with #SueThorpe
Daily Mail
21-05-2025
- Daily Mail
Detective who turned stalker to target her ex by posting lies about him online is spared jail but handed ten-year restraining order
A former detective who stalked her ex-partner and posted 'untrue and seriously alarming' accusations about him online has avoided jail. Sue Thorpe, 44, a former officer with Northumbria Police, bombarded surfing instructor Barry Henderson with abusive voicemails, texts and emails in a year-long harassment campaign after he ended their relationship. The former Northumbria Police officer embarked 'on a mission to destroy' her ex and turned his life into a 'living a nightmare', Newcastle Crown Court heard. She told lies to his friends, family members and new partner, accusing him of being abusive and 'most seriously, being a paedophile' who viewed indecent images of children. Thorpe also used the police national computer to illegally look up information about Mr Henderson following the split. She denied stalking and securing unauthorised access to the police national computer, but a jury took less than two hours to find her guilty. On Wednesday Thorpe, of Whitley Bay, North Tyneside, was sentenced to two years in prison, suspended for two years. She was also ordered to carry out 120 hours of unpaid work, 20 rehabilitation activity days and handed a 10-year restraining order banning her from any contact with Mr Henderson. Newcastle Crown Court heard that between June 2020 and September 2021 Thorpe sent Mr Henderson messages accusing him of being violent towards her during their five-year-long relationship and, 'most seriously, being a paedophile' who viewed indecent images of children. A judge was told she repeated these claims to his friends, family members and new partner, and tried to harm his surfing business by posting them on Facebook and to a charity his business worked with. Thorpe set up a fake email address to contact other organisations with her accusations, at one point pretending to be a concerned parent, and turned up at his workplace twice, it was said. She even set up fake Tinder accounts as 'honeytraps' to 'try and catch him out', a judge said. In a victim impact statement read in court, Mr Henderson said Thorpe was 'on a mission to destroy him' and her 'untrue and seriously alarming' claims made him feel 'physically sick' when he read them. The statement read: 'Sue is clearly trying to ruin my life and make my day to day living a nightmare. 'It is embarrassing and humiliating having to explain to family and friends what is happening. 'What Sue has done has created a massive strain on my personal life.' Mr Henderson said Thorpe had contacted family members including his son accusing him of 'various disgusting things' such as having affairs, drug taking and domestic abuse. He told court he had had to meet some of his male friends to assure them he was not having affairs with their partners. He said his business had had a 'massive drop in bookings', adding: 'It has got to the point where some days I don't even want to go to work and face my customers in case they believe what Sue is saying about me.' Judge Amanda Rippon said after the trial she was 'absolutely sure' that Thorpe's claims that she saw Mr Henderson looking at images of teenage girls on the internet, and that he assaulted her, were not true. She said Thorpe, who had been a police officer for 19 years, had suffered a miscarriage of twins following IVF and the offending happened 'at a time of her life when she was in crisis and ill'. Sentencing Thorpe to a suspended jail term, Judge Rippon said: 'That you were able to access police computers because you were a police officer is an additional and very serious feature, but you were ill, you were lost, and you were acting entirely out of character, undoubtedly as you saw your last chance of a family dissipate.' The court heard Thorpe had resigned from the police, but would probably have been sacked following misconduct proceedings after her conviction. After the trial in April, Northumbria Police said Thorpe had been suspended from the force.
Telegraph
21-05-2025
- Telegraph
Stalker police officer wrongly claimed her ex-partner was a paedophile
A stalker police officer tried to ruin her ex-partner's surfing business by posting 'untrue and seriously alarming' accusations on social media, a court heard. Sue Thorpe, 44, a former officer with Northumbria Police, has avoided an immediate jail term after bombarding surfing instructor Barry Henderson with abusive voicemails, texts and emails in a year-long harassment campaign after he ended their relationship. She also used the police national computer to illegally look up information about Mr Henderson following the split. On Wednesday Thorpe, of Whitley Bay, North Tyneside, was sentenced to two years in prison, suspended for two years after being found guilty of stalking and misuse of computer data. She was also ordered to carry out 120 hours of unpaid work, 20 rehabilitation activity days and handed a 10-year restraining order banning her from any contact with Mr Henderson. Newcastle Crown Court heard that between June 2020 and September 2021 Thorpe sent Mr Henderson messages accusing him of being violent towards her during their five-year-long relationship and 'most seriously, being a paedophile' who viewed indecent images of children. A judge was told she repeated these claims to his friends, family members and new partner, and tried to harm his surfing business by posting them on Facebook and to a charity his business worked with. Thorpe set up a fake email address to contact other organisations with her accusations, at one point pretending to be a concerned parent, and turned up at his workplace twice, it was said. She also set up fake Tinder accounts as 'honeytraps' to 'try and catch him out', a judge said. In a victim impact statement read in court, Mr Henderson said Thorpe was 'on a mission to destroy him' and her 'untrue and seriously alarming' claims made him feel 'physically sick' when he read them. Mr Henderson said Thorpe had contacted family members including his son accusing him of 'various disgusting things' such as having affairs, drug-taking and domestic abuse. He said he had to meet some of his son's male friends to assure them he was not having affairs with their partners. The surfing instructor said his business had had a 'massive drop in bookings', adding: 'It has got to the point where some days I don't even want to go to work and face my customers in case they believe what Sue is saying about me.' Judge Amanda Rippon said she was 'absolutely sure' that Thorpe's claims that she saw Mr Henderson looking at images of teenage girls on the internet, and that he assaulted her, were not true. She said Thorpe, who had been a police officer for 19 years, had suffered a miscarriage of twins following IVF and the offending happened 'at a time of her life when she was in crisis and ill'. The court heard Thorpe had resigned from the police, but would probably have been sacked following misconduct proceedings after her conviction.
The Independent
21-05-2025
- The Independent
Detective who stalked surf instructor ex-partner and told his family and friends he was a paedophile avoids jail
A former detective who stalked her ex-partner and tried to ruin his surfing business by posting 'untrue and seriously alarming' accusations on social media has avoided an immediate jail term. Sue Thorpe, 44, a former officer with Northumbria Police, bombarded surfing instructor Barry Henderson with abusive voicemails, texts and emails in a year-long harassment campaign after he ended their relationship. She also used the police national computer to illegally look up information about Mr Henderson following the split. On Wednesday Thorpe, of Whitley Bay, North Tyneside, was sentenced to two years in prison, suspended for two years after being found guilty of stalking and misuse of computer data. She was also ordered to carry out 120 hours of unpaid work, 20 rehabilitation activity days and handed a 10-year restraining order banning her from any contact with Mr Henderson. Newcastle Crown Court heard that between June 2020 and September 2021 Thorpe sent Mr Henderson messages accusing him of being violent towards her during their five-year-long relationship and, 'most seriously, being a paedophile' who viewed indecent images of children. A judge was told she repeated these claims to his friends, family members and new partner, and tried to harm his surfing business by posting them on Facebook and to a charity his business worked with. Thorpe set up a fake email address to contact other organisations with her accusations, at one point pretending to be a concerned parent, and turned up at his workplace twice, it was said. She even set up fake Tinder accounts as 'honeytraps' to 'try and catch him out', a judge said. In a victim impact statement read in court, Mr Henderson said Thorpe was 'on a mission to destroy him' and her 'untrue and seriously alarming' claims made him feel 'physically sick' when he read them. The statement read: 'Sue is clearly trying to ruin my life and make my day to day living a nightmare. 'It is embarrassing and humiliating having to explain to family and friends what is happening. 'What Sue has done has created a massive strain on my personal life.' Mr Henderson said Thorpe had contacted family members including his son accusing him of 'various disgusting things' such as having affairs, drug taking and domestic abuse, and he had had to meet some of his male friends to assure them he was not having affairs with their partners. He said his business had had a 'massive drop in bookings', adding: 'It has got to the point where some days I don't even want to go to work and face my customers in case they believe what Sue is saying about me.' Judge Amanda Rippon said after the trial she was 'absolutely sure' that Thorpe's claims that she saw Mr Henderson looking at images of teenage girls on the internet, and that he assaulted her, were not true. She said Thorpe, who had been a police officer for 19 years, had suffered a miscarriage of twins following IVF and the offending happened 'at a time of her life when she was in crisis and ill'. Sentencing Thorpe to a suspended jail term, Judge Rippon said: 'That you were able to access police computers because you were a police officer is an additional and very serious feature, but you were ill, you were lost, and you were acting entirely out of character, undoubtedly as you saw your last chance of a family dissipate.' The court heard Thorpe had resigned from the police, but would probably have been sacked following misconduct proceedings after her conviction. After the trial in April, Northumbria Police said Thorpe had been suspended from the force.
BBC News
21-05-2025
- BBC News
Lying Whitley Bay detective was on 'mission' to destroy ex
A detective who bombarded her ex with abuse and lied about him, including saying he was a paedophile and domestic abuser, has avoided prison because she was mentally ill at the Thorpe, 46, also used her position at Northumbria Police to gather information from the force database on her ex in her stalking campaign, Newcastle Crown Court victim said Thorpe was on a "mission to destroy" him, had made his life a "living hell" and his surf business had been who has since resigned from her job of 19 years, was given a suspended prison sentence of two years after being found guilty of stalking and illegally accessing the national police computer. Judge Amanda Rippon said Thorpe's offences were "very serious" but she was a woman who was ill and "in crisis" at the time she committed man and Thorpe had been in a relationship for about five years, bought a house together and were trying to have a child through IVF, the court the relationship crumbled after Thorpe had a miscarriage, losing twins at nine weeks, and the couple reacted in different ways, the judge said. 'Living a nightmare' Between June 2020 and September 2021, Thorpe sent the man hundreds of unwanted texts, emails and voicemail messages, many of which were abusive, prosecutor Matthew Hopkins also told multiple lies about him to his family and friends, posted about him on social media and set up multiple fake email accounts which she used to contact people and organisations he worked with to spread her falsehoods, the court litany of lies included claims he had been violent towards her, took drugs, cheated on her and was a paedophile who abused children online, the court formerly of Whitley Bay but now of Newgale in Pembrokeshire, Wales, also went to his workplace twice, with the man telling the court he was constantly "on edge" about what she would do statements read to the court, the man said Thorpe was "trying to ruin my life and make my day to day living a nightmare", adding: "She is on a mission to destroy me."She needs to move on but it is clear she can't, she has made my life a living hell."He said he felt humiliated and embarrassed by the lies, fearing people may believe them, and Thorpe had sought to "assassinate" him "both personally and professionally".The man also said he feared any allegations Thorpe made would be believed because she was a serving police officer and she had previously threatened to get him arrested, the court heard. 'Ill and lost' Judge Rippon said, having heard both Thorpe and the victim give evidence in the trial, she was "absolutely sure" Thorpe had lied and she "entirely rejected" the ex-detective's "truly dreadful allegations".The judge said the man was "compelling, truthful, honest and accurate" while Thorpe was not and "plainly intended to destroy his business".In mitigation, Robin Patton said the catalyst was the loss of the children, after which Thorpe had been diagnosed with depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).The judge said she was "not unsympathetic" and accepted Thorpe was ill and "in crisis" when she was she accepted Thorpe's campaign of abuse and stalking was "entirely out of character", the judge said it was nevertheless "extremely serious" and had had a terrible impact on her Rippon said the illegal use of the police record was also "very serious" but ultimately Thorpe was a woman who was "lost" after seeing her "last chance of having a family dissipate".Thorpe was ordered to complete 120 hours of unpaid work and must abide by a restraining order for 10 years which bans her from contacting her ex, attending his home address or making any reference to him or about the case on social media. Follow BBC North East on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram. Send your story ideas here.
