Mother subjected to terrifying stalking ordeal over Plenty of Fish

A mother-of-two has revealed how a stranger who raged ‘all women are vile’ stalked her for more than four years after she accidentally replied to his message on a dating site.   

Bethan Sims, 37, said she and her mum, Kathryn, 59, were persistently hounded with disturbing and threatening messages by their tormentor, Neal Hancock.

The predator even stalked Bethan and her son inside a restaurant and followed them around a supermarket.

Hancock, also 37, was initially handed a suspended prison sentence and a five-year restraining order when he was convicted of stalking involving fear of violence in November last year.

But he went on to breach the terms of the court order, and was subsequently jailed for 46 weeks this month.

Now, the mum and daughter, from Port Talbot, South Wales, are speaking out to raise awareness of stranger stalking.

Bethan said: ‘We have lived in fear for so long.

‘All we want is to never hear from Neal again.’

In August 2019, Bethan woke up in the early hours of the morning to a message from Hancock on the Plenty of Fish dating website.

Bethan said: ‘I looked at it and fell back to sleep.

‘But the next morning, I woke to lots of horrific messages, including: “You’re disgusting'” “You’re a manipulator and a psycho”.

‘It was awful.’

Bethan then realised that she had  accidentally sent Hancock a one letter response ‘Y’ when she was half-asleep the night before.

She told Hancock to leave her alone, before blocking him. But he messaged her on Facebook the next day, calling her a ‘time-waster’ and telling her ‘all women are vile’.

Bethan called the police and the incident was logged.

But Hancock continued to hound her with vile messages.

She said: ‘Whenever I blocked him, he’d created a new profile.

‘On one occasion, he made reference to me having two children.

‘I was terrified. I didn’t understand how he knew that because my profiles were completely private.’

Bethan reported everything to the police, but she claims they said nothing could be done because they couldn’t prove that it was Hancock sending the messages.

She said: ‘They kept asking how long I’d been in a relationship with him. They were baffled when I told them I hadn’t.

‘Instead of taking action, they advised me to come off social media.

‘It was ridiculous.’

Bethan’s mum, Kathryn, made a Facebook post, warning her friends about Hancock.

But he soon messaged her, telling her: ‘You’re lying, I’m not a stalker, I’m weak’.

From then on, Hancock harassed Kathryn, too.

Bethan said: ‘I couldn’t believe he was targeting mum as well.

‘We were petrified of him and I was so anxious that I didn’t leave the house alone.’

Eventually, Bethan told her children and their school about Hancock.

Then, in July 2023, Bethan went out for lunch with her son for his 12th birthday.

It was her first time leaving the house without her mum in over a year.

But as they ate, Bethan noticed a man in the corner acting strange.

She said: ‘There was something about him that was really odd.

‘He was wearing a cap and kept fidgeting.

‘Even though I’d never seen him in person, I knew it was Neal.

‘I told my son, and we quickly ate our food and left. I was really shaken up.’

Back home, Hancock messaged Bethan: ‘When I saw you, you looked scared of me. I’m sorry’.

Then, not long after, he messaged Kathryn telling her he’d seen her and Bethan in a shop and recounted the exact conversation Bethan had with the cashier.

Bethan said: ‘We were beside ourselves. We had no idea he’d followed us.’

Again, they reported Hancock to the police, but no action was taken.

By now, he’d been stalking them for over four years.

Then, soon after, a relative informed Bethan and Kathryn that her cousin, Carl, 40, was also being stalked by Hancock.

Bethan said: ‘A few days later, I met with Carl.

‘He told me that he’d had to leave his job and move house because of Neal.’

Hancock, who Carl had met as a teen, had subjected him to homophobic abuse and even created fake social media profiles of Carl’s relatives that had passed away, pretending to be them.

Determined to see Hancock prosecuted, Kathryn wrote a formal complaint to the South Wales Police.

The case was handed to another branch, and they immediately started their investigation.

Hancock, from Neath in Port Talbot, was arrested and charged with stalking involving fear of violence.

He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 48 weeks in prison, suspended for two years, at Swansea Magistrates’ Court.

He was also handed a five-year restraining order, preventing him from contacting the trio.

Bethan said: ‘Mum, Carl and I faced him and read our impact statements.

‘We wanted him to hear the devastating impact his abuse has had on our lives.

‘But Neal appeared completely un-remorseful.

‘Still, we felt really proud of ourselves for bringing him to justice.’

Following his conviction, Hancock went on to break his restraining order by indirectly contacting Carl through a friend.

He was jailed for 46 weeks earlier this month.

Bethan said: ‘We were over the moon that he received a custodial sentence this time.

‘Stranger stalking isn’t taken seriously enough, and we hate the thought of it happening to others out there.

‘Even if our story helps just one person, then it will be worth it.’