Stalker who met victim on Plenty of Fish hid in her loft for 10 days before police found him

An obsessive stalker bombarded his former lover with texts while lurking in her loft for 10 days before police officers eventually found him.

Ben Gould, 29, of Cambourne, Cornwall, terrorised his ex-girlfriend Hayley Smith, 37 for a year after the pair first crossed paths on the dating website Plenty of Fish.

Despite their relationship initially looking rosy, Ms Smith broke the brooding romance off after she discovered dog-loving Gould was still living with another woman when they first met.

Gould then launched his obsessive campaign of stalking, including following Ms Smith when she stayed at the homes of friends and families, bombarding her with texts and calls and even breaking into her caravan.

Feeling powerless, she alerted the police, who said they couldn’t locate the elusive Gould…