Stalker sent to jail for pestering city woman

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

- CARL EVE

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. He also went to her workplace to deliver a gift of a Dyson hair tool worth around £300 and a card, which claimed he decided to buy for her when he was "just out shopping." 

The jury heard the woman had only told him she worked at a Plymouth hair salon 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 she 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, 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". The court heard Floyd said God had ordered him to "head down to Plymouth...and I'm on my way."