Besotted driving instructor, 52, stalked 17-year-old
A ‘besotted’ driving instructor created a TikTok account dedicated to his teenage student and hacked into her social media, a court heard.
Graham Mansie, 52, received an eight-week custodial sentence, suspended for 12 months, for stalking the 18-year-old girl who he taught to drive in Bromley, south London, last year.
Mansie asked the teenager out for drinks, told her she was his ‘favourite’ and created a the TikTok account dedicated to her.
The instructor’s unwanted attention continued after the victim had blocked him on all social media, stopped having driving lessons with him, and gone to university.
Mansie paid hundreds of pounds to hackers so he could read her private social media messages and keep tabs on her.
Prosecutor Denise Clewes said: ‘The complainant in this case started taking driving lessons from Mr Mansie when she was 17.’
She started taking lessons with him in July 2020 and they texted, but ‘solely in order to arrange the driving lessons,’ said Ms Clewes.
The lessons stopped with the Covid lockdown at the end of 2020, but resumed again in April 2021.
Ms Clewes said: ‘They were exchanging texts but again it was in relation to arranging future appointments or talking about driving advice.’
He made a TikTok account dedicated to her where he described her as ‘my favourite’ and used a red love heart emoji.
In one lesson, he made a comment about wanting a relationship and asked her to go for drinks with him, but she refused.
‘The victim also described his actions as making her feel vulnerable,’ Ms Clews said
Mansie also gave another student a gift bag to pass on to her, which contained £65 in restaurant vouchers, and a key ring with eight personalised charms.
He also sent her a card in which he described her as ‘kind’ and ‘amazing’.
The victim became concerned and told her mother, who contacted Mansie about his inappropriate advances.
She also showed her mother a long test from Mansie which said: ‘I know you’ll never care about me as much,’ and ‘I’ve been feeling heartbroken you mean a lot to me.’
The victim’s mother told him that he could no longer teach her daughter and made it clear that his actions were inappropriate.
Mansie replied asking: ‘Is it because I love her?’
After the victim blocked Mansie on all social media and stopped having driving lessons with him he went to her home and drove off when he was spotted.
Mansie still attempted to contact the victim once she had moved out of London to York to attend university in September 2021.
The instructor created a fake profile of an 18-year-old male and infiltrated a WhatsApp group for students in her Halls of Residence that he accessed through a university Facebook page.
Mansie befriended her as well as her 12 flatmates.
‘He used the dark web to contact people to hack into her private accounts,’ said Ms Clewes.
He lost hundreds of pounds trying to do this three times.
Mansie was reported to police last October and arrested the following month.
He broke his bail conditions twice by attempting to contact his victim – the second time occurring just 24 hours after his court hearing for breaching bail conditions.
Mansie, of Beckenham, south London, was sentenced to eight weeks imprisonment, suspended for 12 months at Bromley Magistrates’ Court.
He must also complete 30 rehabilitation days and pay costs of £428.
District Judge Vanessa Lloyd put a restraining order on Mansie, meaning he cannot contact the victim directly or indirectly, nor can he enter the University of York campus, her home address, or any other address that he finds out she may be residing at.
That order will be in place until a further order is made.
‘There’s no need for you to ever have any contact with [her],’ said Judge Lloyd. ‘She’s beginning her adult life and it doesn’t include you.’
The driving instructor admitted stalking on the first day of his trial at Bexley Magistrates’ Court on 21 April.
He spoke only to confirm his identity and appeared in court wearing a navy blue suite with a white shirt.
Last month, Tracy Mesmain from the CPS said: ‘Graham Mansie became besotted with his student.
‘As a trusted driving instructor he was simply tasked with helping a teenager pass her test, but his conduct became inappropriate and worrying.
‘The prosecution case included phone evidence which showed that Mansie had accessed the victim’s social media pages numerous times.
‘When arrested and interviewed, he also confessed to police that he had used the dark web to try to contact people to hack into the victim’s social media accounts, in order to see what she was up to after getting blocked.
‘He told police officers that he had lost hundreds of pounds being scammed trying to do this and was in love with the victim.’
Mansie told police ‘he had fallen for her and was besotted with her’.
He gave the details of ‘numerous incidents’ where he tried to follow her social media accounts and admitted to creating a fake Instagram profile, said prosecutor Denise Clewes.
She continued: ‘He said he’d used fake TikTok accounts to follow what she was doing.
‘He used the dark web to contact people to hack into her private accounts.’
He lost ‘hundreds of pounds’ attempting to do this multiple times – even up until the week before his arrest on 3 November 2021.
After she left home to go to study at the University of York, her father rang the former driving instructor to get him to stop stalking his daughter.
‘Her father had shouted at him saying, “you’re a pervert”,’ said Ms Clewes.
Mansie replied: ‘I love your daughter and she’s 18.’
On 31 October, he travelled to York by train for a ‘trip for her’, said Ms Clewes.
He did tourist activities as well as walking around her accommodation block – but he did not go inside.
Mansie breached his bail conditions to not contact her on two occasions, the second time occurring just 24 hours after he was in court and reminded of the bail condition.
On 21 April, he sent her a WhatsApp message saying ‘you have killed me’ with a link to a newspaper article about the case.
It made her ‘distressed and upset’ and left her wondering whether he will ever stop contacting her, Ms Clewes.
The teenager read out her victim impact statement in court, protected by a screen.
She said: ‘I’m scared and think about it absolutely every day.
‘He has come to York to try and find me.
‘I’ve stopped wearing my coat and cut my hair.
‘I feel so vulnerable having moved away from my family for the first time.
‘I’m wondering if he will ever stop contacting me.
‘This has affected my first year at university.
‘I’m worried he will return to my uni accommodation.’
She said the stalking has also impacted her friends in the university accommodation, and it has stopped her sleeping and eating.
Piers Kiss-Wilson, defending, said Mansie has been a driving instructor for nearly 23 years and the offence is ‘completely out of character’ as a man with no previous convictions.
He said: ‘That employment has gone because of this offence.
‘It has impacted his career and that’s something that he has to live with.’
District Judge Vanessa Lloyd told Mansie ‘I appreciate you didn’t intend to cause alarm or distress.
‘Your behaviour did cause a great deal of alarm and distress not just to the victim but also to her parents.
‘You’re still having some difficulty accepting that the victim doesn’t return your affections.
‘None of the consequences are the fault of her.
‘It was pointed out to you very early on that your behaviour was unwanted.
‘All the consequences of your behaviour are a consequence of what you did and not what she did or didn’t do.
‘The victim has been very brave coming to court today and reading out her statement.’
She said the offence ‘crosses the custody threshold given the persistent nature of the behaviour’.
But the judge added: ‘I do feel able to suspend the period of imprisonment that I’m going to impose.’
This is because of his previous good character ‘and also, more importantly, there is work the probation service wish to do with you,’ she said.
As part of his sentence, Mansie must attend a stalking threat assessment centre.
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