THE victim of a cruel stalking campaign says she was left broken by the actions of a man who followed her for months.

As previously reported in the Gazette, Adrian Matthews, of De Grey Road, Colchester, was jailed for 25 months at Ipswich Crown Court after he admitted admitted stalking and breaching a nonmolestation order relating to a former girlfriend.

The 43-year-old followed her to the supermarket, at one stage even climbing into her car, went to her home on the pretence he was fixing her gate and turned up on her route to work, even though she had changed it.

Matthews, who has a record for harassing former partners, has also been slapped with a sevenyear restraining order.

Now his victim has spoken out about her ordeal, saying she believed Matthews thought his behaviour was a twisted game.

She said: “This period of my life completely broke me.

“I had gone from going out and being a pretty relaxed person to staying in my house and being constantly worried and anxious.

“I didn’t feel in control of my life and I felt completely isolated.

“I didn’t want to go to friends’ houses or see other people because I felt I didn’t want to put this on them. It’s all about control.

“Once I had ended the relationship and he had lost control of me, he was doing anything he could get that back.

“It actually felt like it was a game for him, and I was part of his game, and that he had to win at any cost regardless of how that made me feel.

“I was going four or five days without going out because I was in fear of him being there. When I absolutely had to go out to go shopping, it was a nightmare because I didn’t know if he was there.”

She said there had been warning signs during their relationship, but she was unaware of Clare’s Law, which allows people who think they have a violent partner or former partner to request information about them.

She said: “When I broached my concerns with him, I had the overwhelming feeling he was being dishonest and he pushed it back on me, making me feel like all the problems in the relationship were my fault.

“If I had known about Clare’s Law at the time, I would definitely have used it and may not have ended up in the situation I did.”

Essex Police has launched a campaign to help victims of stalking. For more information visit essex.police.uk.