Stalker of former BBC Breakfast Louise Minchin jailed for two years

BBC presenter Louise Minchin has said the jailing of Carl Davies for stalking her and her teenage daughter sends a message to people on social media who make threats.

Ex-soldier Davies, 44, was sentenced to two years and eight months on Wednesday after posting multiple “intimidating” messages “intended to maximise fear and distress” to Ms Minchin and her teenage daughter Mia’s social media accounts over four days between July 14 and 17 last year.

In one message to Louise Minchin, he wrote: “Move or you’re f****d”. In another, he said: “your daughter will definitely be raped”, followed by their home address, the village they lived in, and the cars that were in their driveway at the time, Mold Crown Court heard.

BBC presenter Louise Minchin. Picture: Steve Schofield/BBC/PA Wire

Commenting on one of Louise’s photos, he said: “You can see your garden from there”, showing he was aware of were they lived, the court heard.

The presenter and her daughter said the stalking had a “horrific, devastating, and lasting impact” and still suffered from a “sense of deep distress” more than a year on, the judge was told.

In a victim impact statement, Louise Minchin said: “We are both still traumatised by what has been a harrowing experience.”

Prosecutor Brian Treadwell said: “The family do not feel safe and perhaps never will.”

Louise Minchin said in the statement issued through Knight Ayton Management: “The sentencing today of a man who made horrific threats online against my daughter and I marks the end of what has been a very distressing time for both of us.

“I would like to thank North Wales Police and the Crown Prosecution Service for their hard work and for successfully investigating and prosecuting the case.

“I hope it sends a clear message that people who make violent threats on social media can be found, can be prosecuted and can expect a prison sentence.”

Passing the sentence, Her Honour Judge Nicola Saffman handed Davies a prison sentence of two years and eight months and an indefinite restraining order.

She said: “Clearly they would have been terrified by that, especially because it’s clear you knew where they lived and knew the details of cars that were on their drive.

“As a result they are both now hyper-vigilant. They still have a sense of deep distress one year on and the family still don’t feel safe.”

Davies, of Flint, North Wales, had previously been convicted in 2017 of stalking another woman and for biting his father on the arm in 2019, the court heard.

He was due to face trial at Caernarfon Crown Court on Tuesday for two counts of stalking the presenter and her daughter, but changed his pleas to guilty before a jury was sworn in.

Duncan Bould, mitigating for Davies, said he sustained post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) while serving with the armed forces in Iraq.

He said Davies had never received treatment for the condition – being partly diagnosed in 2017, but only having his condition fully recognised during a psychiatric examination to assist with the sentencing.

Judge Saffman added: “I accept that you are remorseful for what you have done.

“I have also taken into account your PTSD, which is significant and has never been treated and which was incurred and suffered as a result of you serving your country at war.”