Stalker threatened to kidnap girl, 13, and send her body parts to her mum

A disturbed stalker threatened to kidnap a 13-year-old girl and kill her after spotting her getting off a bus in Wirral.

Matthew Cooney, 31, developed a twisted obsession with the child after noticing her at Eastham Rake, and drove from Manchester in hopes of meeting her after seeing photos of the child on social media.

Cooney was aged 21 at the time, with the events stretching over six months in 2015.

After following her in his car, he approached her, told her she was ‘fit’ and asked for her phone number, prompting the girl to try and hide.

The court heard Cooney would ‘not leave her alone’, and he began stalking her and sending violent messages.

At Liverpool Crown Court yesterday, prosecutor Joanne Daniels said: ‘The defendant wasn’t deterred by the victim’s age, which she continued to point out over messages.

‘The messages continued for weeks until the defendant asked to meet up. She refused. The defendant didn’t take no for an answer and bombarded the victim with more messages.

‘The messages became extremely threatening and violent. He said he would find out where she lived, kidnap her, kill her, cut her into pieces and send her back to her mother.’

Even after the girl blocked Cooney, he set up additional accounts and bombarded her with messages.

At one point, Cooney sent the girl photographs of himself self-harming, holding a large knife to his throat and posing with a mouth full of tablets. He told her if she didn’t meet him, he would kill himself.

Out of fear, the victim eventually agreed to meet Cooney outside Eastham Rake railway station, where he gave her a bracelet with a love heart on it and told her he would ‘treat her like a princess’.

He turned up at the girl’s school, where he began approaching other pupils and asking them to pass on messages to her. In a statement, the victim also described an occasion where he picked up two female pupils in his car and had them direct him to her house.

Ms Daniels said: ‘The victim received a sympathy card from the defendant saying ‘on the loss of someone so special in your life’. At this point the victim decided she would have to tell her parents.

‘The next day, the defendant rang the victim’s father. The victim’s father ended the call, but the defendant called back straight away from a withheld number, saying he knows where he lives and would send people round to the house, or that he would come to their house with a gun.’

Cooney sent a hand-written letter to the 13-year-old which read: ‘ever get the feeling that someone is watching you?’

He also sent two emails to the girl’s school claiming that he was a police officer and had seen the girl smoking cannabis in her school uniform.

Cooney was supposed to appear at Liverpool Magistrate’s Court in June 2016, however the court heard he fled to America, where he lived illegally until his deportation in November last year.

A warrant was issued, and he was arrested on his arrival at Heathrow Airport. He pleaded guilty to stalking.

He has no previous convictions in the UK, but racked up three offences of theft, valued between $5,000 and $25,000, while living in the USA. He also failed to appear twice in the USA courts in 2021 and 2023.

John Rowan, defending, said: ‘The offence took place back in 2015. He’s now 31. His life is completely different to how it was then. He was, in my submission, a young individual, and he was at that time a very immature and very impulsive young man with some mental health issues.

‘He was someone who, at the time, had just lost his grandfather who was a father figure to him, and he was having issues with alcohol as well. From when he was 21 to now he has had three children of his own, a daughter of his own, two wives, he has been in long-term relationships.

‘They are indicators to him as to how vulnerable that child was at the time, and how inappropriate and serious his behaviour towards her was. It may seem trite, but this defendant wants to offer his remorse, his deepest regret as to how he behaved back then.’

He said Cooney was still grieving after losing his then-estranged wife and two children in a car crash in Arkansas in 2024.

Sentencing, judge Ian Harris said: ‘You threatened to kidnap her, to kill her, and to send pieces of her body to her mother.

‘You sent pictures of yourself self-harming. You held a knife to your throat and sent a picture of you with tablets in your mouth. You threatened to kill yourself if she would not meet you. You terrified her to the extent she contemplated suicide.’

He sentenced Cooney to three years and six months in prison, and made a restraining order banning him from contacting the victim for 15 years.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.

Comments Add as preferred source