A 30-year-old nurse, Sophie Colwill, has confessed to obsessively stalking her former partner, 54-year-old dentist David Pagliero, after their breakup. In court, it was revealed that Colwill harassed Pagliero with up to 1,000 phone calls in a single day, placed a tracking device on his car, and even broke into his £1.35 million home, waiting for him in his bedroom.
Pagliero, who had sought ‘companionship’ following the death of his wife, initially found the relationship ‘tonic and nice’, according to his victim impact statement. However, it soon became ‘traumatic’.
After the breakup, Colwill’s behavior intensified. Pagliero testified that he lived in constant fear of being followed and even suspected she might be hiding outside his home. Colwill’s harassment escalated to breaking into his house, where a brief altercation occurred as she tried to seize his phone before fleeing through a window.
Colwill pleaded guilty to stalking that caused serious alarm or distress. She received a 20-week suspended prison sentence and a five-year restraining order prohibiting her from contacting Pagliero or approaching his home or workplace. Pagliero requested leniency from the judge, expressing, “I never wanted that. But your actions wore me down.” Colwill’s defense attorney, Peter Seigne, described her as “fragile” and struggling with the consequences of her actions.
