A MAN who stalked and made repeated allegations about a Cheshire Police officer has been sentenced to prison.

David Challinor, 53, of no fixed abode, was jailed for three years and handed an indefinite restraining order at Mold Crown Court today (March 28).

Challinor committed the offences in Deganwy between September 2020 and November 2022.

Prosecuting, Richard Edwards told the court that, between 2002 and 2009, Challinor was employed as a council CCTV operator in Cheshire.

During that period, Detective Sergeant Stuart Needham was, and still is, an officer with Cheshire Constabulary.

Due to their roles, their paths would cross on occasion, and in 2009, Challinor alleged that DS Needham assaulted him.

This claim was investigated, but nothing came of it, Mr Edwards said.

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From September 2020 to November 2022, Challinor was said to have made numerous complaints about DS Needham to the Independent Office for Police Conduct.

For some of this time period, Challinor was serving a prison sentence for a separate offence.

He made “derogatory remarks” to the officer in his correspondence, which included sending numerous letters to the police station in Blacon, Chester, where DS Needham works.

A letter from Challinor, dated September 25, 2020, referred to the initial allegation of assault he made against DS Needham, saying: “I informed you another officer offered to sell me a gun/ammunition.”

Other comments from Challinor included: “I’ll be forced to take the law into my own hands”, “He can’t hide forever”, “If he’s allowed to assault me, does that mean I can do the same?”, and “I’m not a dirty q**** like Needham”.

When officers attended Challinor’s address in March 2022, a photo of DS Needham was found on his front door, as were another two within the property.

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In a victim statement, DS Needham said he has had to make changes to his daily life due to Challinor’s actions.

The officer said he has had to install security measures at his home to considerable expense, and finds himself changing his routes to and from work.

During darker evenings, DS Needham said he finds himself checking outside his property in case Challinor is hiding in the vicinity, and he has changed his shift patterns at work to ensure he isn’t working late as often as previously.

When interviewed, Challinor accepted responsibility for all of the correspondence in question, but said his behaviour did not amount to stalking.

He had 13 previous convictions for 32 offences.

This included an incident in August 2011, when Challinor wrote several letters to the job centre referring to allegations of bullying by DS Needham, adding that he was contemplating killing him.

In another previous episode, a picture of DS Needham had been found outside Challinor’s home with the word “disgrace” written on it, while inside the property, there were more pictures of him “all over the walls with derogatory remarks”.

He had also previously been sentenced for stalking, involving female complainants receiving unwanted contact, and for breaching a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO).

Defending, Dafydd Roberts said that Challinor is an “aggrieved complainant” who will either “continue to offend in the way he has done”, or “put it behind him and move on”.

Challinor was, until the age of 40, “a law-abiding, working man”, Mr Roberts added, but his life was now said to be “in complete turmoil”.

Mr Roberts said there was not a high degree of planning in Challinor’s offending in this case; rather, “his intention was to try and resurrect the complaint that he had”.

Sentencing, Judge Rhys Rowlands described Challinor’s “campaign of offending” as “compulsive and deeply worrying”.

The terms of Challinor’s restraining order prohibit from the following:

  • Contacting directly or indirectly DS Needham.
  • Going within 500 metres of any address where he knows or believes DS Needham to reside or work.
  • Going within half a mile of Blacon Police Station, save to attend at Blacon Cemetery on no more than four occasions each year, having given seven days’ notice to the officer in charge of Blacon Police Station prior to each visit.
  • Not to make any complaint about DS Needham to any police force.
  • Not to make or post any comment about DS Needham, whether adverse or otherwise, on any platform, including social media.

Judge Rowlands told Challinor: “It had a quite dreadful effect upon your victim, a public servant who you have targeted quite obsessively since your paths crossed.

“The present victim is not the only individual you have targeted over the years and been stalked by you. There are a number of others who have fallen foul of you.

“Such behaviour isn’t just deeply unsettling and wrong, it is very serious.”