By ANDREW LEVY, REPORTER Published: 12:01 BST, 18 September 2025 | Updated: 12:01 BST, 18 September 2025
A terrified woman was subjected to a bizarre decade-long stalking campaign by her own boyfriend who stalked her – while living with her.Former special constable James Dunne encouraged strangers to turn up at their front door and sexually assault her or demand sex.He also persuaded them to leave used condoms in envelopes at their home, her place of work or even on her car door handle, as well as take photos of her.Dunne, 36, arranged the disturbing visits by setting up fake social media accounts that provided personal details about the woman. Some were set up in her name.In some messages, recipients – some of whom were arrested by police - were told his partner ‘would like to have sex at the same time as breastfeeding her baby’.Fearing for her safety, the woman moved with Dunne several times to different Norfolk towns to try and escape her tormenter and the steady flow of unwelcome visitors.Dunne, who recently moved to Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, has now appeared at Norwich Crown Court for sentencing after admitting three stalking offences between June 2013 and November 2022.He was jailed for six years and ten months, with a 38-month extended licence. Former special constable James Dunne admitted waging a bizarre ten-year stalking campaign against his own girlfriendRecorder Peter Guest imposed an additional six-month jail term for a fraud charge that the defendant also admitted.This related to a promotion Dunne secured to become a security advisor for BT Open Reach, with a £5,000 salary boost, after claiming he had been a PC for Derbyshire Constabulary between 2009 and 2014.The court heard he had never been a PC and stopped being a special constable in 2011.The judge told him: ‘This woman lived a life of fear for ten years.‘Forced to move home, forced to fear for the safety of her children.’He added: 'It will take years, if ever, for her to move on.’The woman became emotional as she read a victim impact statement in court on Friday which said her time with Dunne had been ‘nothing short of a nightmare’.She described how she had ‘lived my life in fear’ and felt ‘isolated and alone’, while the ‘emotional toll [had been] exhausting’.Her children had suffered too, she said, adding it had been ‘horrific’ that Dunne had involved her infant son in his sick fantasies for ‘sexual gratification’. Dunne's victim fought back tears as she read a victim impact statement at Norwich Crown Court in which she said she had 'lived my life in fear' as strangers pestered herDuring the hearing, prosecutor Jane Oldfield said the woman had had no idea her boyfriend was behind the ‘sophisticated’ and ‘well-planned’ campaign.The victim had security cameras installed at home to try and protect her family and in the hope of catching who was responsible, she said.She found suspicious images and fake social media accounts on his laptop at one point but he convinced her it had been hacked.Dunne was finally arrested in August 2022 and tried to shift the blame by telling officers his partner’s ex-husband was responsible. After his release, he continued to stalk her.Charlene Sumnall, defending, told the court her client had been assessed by psychiatrists and was found to have mental health issues.This included post-traumatic stress disorder, which arose partly from seeing two children die in a fire when he was a special constable, and had resulted in a ‘lack of consequential thinking’.But she added: ‘This is a man who has behaved appallingly and terrorised an individual and their wider family and friends.‘He appreciates that now and acknowledges that and is indeed remorseful for that.’Dunne - who was told a voyeurism charge will lie on file - was also given a restraining order banning him from contacting his victim.
