A nurse has been struck off for stalking a man using the fitness app Strava, reducing him to a ‘quivering wreck’.
Hayley Clarke, 37, of Hereford, Herefordshire, started bombarding her victim with messages on various social media platforms – and later the cycling and running tracker app – in June 2022.
The man became a ‘quivering wreck’ after the nurse repeatedly broke court orders not to contact him, a disciplinary tribunal heard.
She stalked him ‘in the context of a relationship’ – and has been sent to prison four times for this, most recently in October 2024. She is currently serving her ten-month sentence on licence.
As well as sending the ‘repeated unwanted and abusive messages’, she threatened to kill herself and damaged his property.
She breached a stalking protection order by sending plants to his house from Amazon, posting him a birthday card under a false name and contacting him pretending to be an old friend, suggesting she was watching him and monitoring his home.
It left him ‘scared to look at his telephone’, the court heard: ‘He jumps out of his skin when his phone rings; he has to keep his curtains closed because it has caused paranoia.’
The nurse has now been struck off at a Nursing and Midwifery Council tribunal, with an 18-month interim suspension order in place in case she appeals.
Hayley Clarke (pictured), of Hereford, Herefordshire, started bombarding her victim with messages on various social media platforms – and later the cycling and running tracker app – in June 2022
She had been working as a nurse for just six months at the time of her first conviction.
Clarke first stalked the man between June 2022 and January 2023, the disciplinary hearing heard.
She threatened the victim, referred to only as Person 1, by saying she would ‘tell the husband of a friend of Person 1 that he, Person 1, was having a sexual relationship with his wife’.
She also sent ‘repeated unwanted and abusive messages via Facebook Messenger, Instagram and e-mail’, threatened to kill herself and damaged his property.
It saw a Stalking Protection Order (SPO) put in place in March 2023.
She had been a practising nurse for just six months at this time, having previously worked as a healthcare assistant for six years.
But she breached the order in April 2023, sending plants to the man’s house using Amazon.
She also contacted him using a fake Twitter account and the Strava app.
The man became a ‘quivering wreck’ after the nurse (pictured) repeatedly broke court orders not to contact him, a disciplinary tribunal heard
Clarke pleaded guilty to these offences at Kidderminster Magistrates Court in Worcestershire in the same month, and was sentenced to eight months in prison, suspended for 20 months.
A Restraining Order was also put in place for two years, forbidding her from contacting the victim.
She also had an activity requirement attached to her suspended sentence, to further her rehabilitation and reduce the prospect of her reoffending.
But within just eight days of being sentenced, Clarke contacted the victim again.
This time, she pretended to be an old friend, suggesting she was watching him and monitoring his home.
She was convicted for stalking and breaching an order in July 2023 and sentenced to eight months in prison in August of that year.
Addressing Ms Clarke, the committee said: ‘In a police interview for these matters, the conduct was denied by you and blame placed on others.
‘The denial continued when interviewed by a Probation Officer, when you sought to deny responsibility.
Clarke (pictured) first stalked the man between June 2022 and January 2023, the disciplinary hearing heard
‘This position was only changed when you appeared at the Crown Court for sentencing.
‘The Judge states within the sentencing remarks that he considered the breaches of your SPO to be “extremely serious” and considered that he would be failing in his public duty if he did not impose a prison sentence and did not believe you were immediately ready to rehabilitate your conduct.
‘The Judge described the impact on Person 1 as having been “scared to look at his telephone”; he jumps out of his skin when his phone rings; he has to keep his curtains closed because it has caused paranoia.
‘It has, as he puts it, “made him a quivering wreck” [and] “upset his sleep pattern”.’
A couple of months later, in November 2023, Clarke contacted the man again, and sent him a birthday card under a false name.
This saw her sentenced to ten months in prison in January 2024 – but she then committed further offences over the next five months by trying to communicate with the victim, including by email.
She was sentenced to ten months in prison in October 2024, as the judge noted she was not ready for rehabilitation.
They also pointed out at the time that Clarke stalked the victim while he was having to ‘suffer a tragedy of his father dying, so that it accentuated the upset he felt’.
Addressing Clarke, the NMC panel said: ‘You said you know you made him feel scared and vulnerable, you said because you are not allowed to contact him you can never apologise to him for your actions.
‘You said you feel ashamed of your actions and they are not who you are. You said you do not know why you acted in this way.’
It added that Clarke said she hoped to gain back trust by being ‘the best version of [herself]’, and that she believes she has learned from her mistakes.
She did not admit to most of the conduct which led to her convictions – which were variously for stalking, breaching a restraining order and breaching stalking prevention orders.
The committee said: ‘The panel found that although patients were not harmed by your conduct leading to your convictions, a member of the public (Person 1) has been caused emotional harm as a result of your conduct.
‘This repeated conduct had breached the fundamental tenets of the nursing profession and therefore brought its reputation into disrepute.’
The panel said that it seemed like Clarke had ‘deep seated attitudinal problems’.
