A former head teacher has been jailed after he subjected a trainee to months of harassment.
Gregory Hill sent Chloe Regester, who was in her first year of teaching at a junior school in King’s Lynn, Norfolk, countless messages from the school’s social media accounts.
Hill claimed he was in love with Regester and would post social media messages such as “can’t wait to see this smile, this beautiful face” even though she had told him she was not interested in him romantically.
A trial last month heard that the messages began as work-related, but became personal from February 2022. After telling him she did not want a personal relationship he continued to message her, and she reported him to the police a year later.
He was arrested in March 2023, and resisted this for 33 minutes, even feigning unconsciousness to stop police apprehending him.
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He told the court he had made a “slip of the finger” one evening when making a WhatsApp call to Regester just before midnight.
He had also photographed her car when she was visiting a family member, the court heard.
In a statement, Regester said the harassment had led her to have sleepless nights and nightmares.
“He was always hounding me with messages and emails late at night,” she said.
“I had concerns that Hill was aware of my movements and this led to a fear of seeing him when I was out and about. These last few years have completely changed me as a person, and I do not know if I will ever return to the person I once was.”
Hill was found guilty of causing harassment without violence and was convicted of resisting arrest at Norwich Magistrates Court.
He was sentenced to 20 weeks in custody and is now the subject of a four-year restraining order that prevents him from contacting Regester, plus a four-year stalking prevention order.
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