Clive Hamilton (pictured) flooded his female victim with messages over a period of three years. He claimed he was in love with her but she pleaded with him to leave her alone
An ex-soldier who told a woman he was trainee spy snooping on Iran and stalked her for three years has dodged a jail sentence.
Clive Hamilton, 31, told his victim he was gathering intelligence on Iran’s nuclear programme and had travelled to the country to work undercover.
After meeting her in a pub, he bombarded her with texts and over 300 Facebook messages between August 2014 and April 2017.
Hamilton, who was convicted for harassment twice in 2012, was given a 10-week jail term suspended for two years at Brighton Magistrates Court and handed an indefinite restraining order.
Despite leaving the army in 2009 he bragged he was training at Sandhurst and even showed her his ID in a bid to prove he was a real 007.
The pair met when the woman was working in a bar and they played ‘a few games of tennis’ before having a falling out.
When she refused to meet him in person, Hamilton began flooding her with text messages, which continued after she moved away to Essex.
After she demanded he stop sending her texts, he moved his stalking campaign online, creating multiple Facebook and Instagram accounts to try to reach her.
The stalking went a step further when the victim moved to Australia.
Despite being on the other side of the world he managed to track down where she worked and even contacted her mother in a bid to speak to her.
He sent her a Christmas card with a cheque for £300 and continued sending messages when he discovered her email address.
In a victim impact statement, the woman said: ‘These messages have been sent to me over a long period of time.
Hamilton, of Bognor Regis, created multiple Facebook and Instagram accounts to carry out his stalking campaign and even contacted his victim’s mother to try to reach her
‘I always feel I’m looking over my shoulder.
‘I feel he is unpredictable and I’m not sure what he will do next.
‘He has fantasised a relationship which is not true.’
She admitted the messages were never threatening and that she cashed the cheque he sent her.
Hamilton claimed he was in love with her and felt ‘grief’ when she ignored him and thought she would eventually calm down.
Magistrate Sara Caton said: ‘It is so serious because of your previous convictions and also the sustained period of the stalking and your lack of understanding of the effect your offending had on your victim.’
He was also ordered to attend a 50-day rehabilitation course and pay £250 in costs.