Here's the deal. I've been single since time immemorial. So, in an attempt to remedy my eternal singledom, and to get over my nauseatingly pathological fear of dates, I've decided to challenge myself. The challenge? To go on one first date a week for a year! So in 52 weeks time, I will have either found my Mr Right, or I'll stay forever Miss Write. This is what happens...


The Rules

Here are the rules to the 52 First Dates challenge...

1. A first date must be had once a week, EVERY week, for a year, that's 52 dates in 52 weeks.

2. Taking someone home after a drunken night on the cider does NOT count.

3. Second and third dates are allowed, I must continue first dates unless there are exceptional mitigating circumstances. For example, God forbid, the start of a relationship.

4. Each date must be blogged.

08 November 2012

Sebastian Pritchard-Jones Strikes Back!

***12/07/13 - since this update was originally written, we have since identified those who had their photos used without permission, and I have removed the majority of them out of courtesy to those pictured***

Hello there 52 First Dates fans! Bet you weren't expecting to hear from me on here again were you? No. Well, there have been developments, as the title of this entry suggests. Remember the fictitious Sebastian Pritchard-Jones who made a few guest appearances during the blog when a couple of his other victims got in touch with me? Well, there have been more. And boy has that bastard been busy!

In total there are now five of us girls that have duped by this duplicitous, twisted, manipulative beast who has been posing as other people online to try and groom women, and aside from the one guy I know of who had his identity stolen to groom both myself and the first two girls to get back in touch, it seems that before us, he'd been masquerading as at least two other poor, unsuspecting guys.

When I first posted my disgruntled article about the apparently handsome Welsh teacher that buggered me around, stood me up and then turned up to be a psycho in a perfume bottle, I didn't expect anything more than having used it as something to write about. But the response I have had since has given me chills on a regular basis.

To save doing numerous annoying links to previous posts, I've written the entire story up according to every woman Seb has targeted, including myself. I've also attached pictures and key bits of information that we think will help lead us to who the hell this evil creature is. This guy has done some seriously sick psychological damage to those he's dicked around over the years, and we are determined to find him. And find him we will. With your help. So if there's anything in here that means anything to you, rings any bells, recognise any pictures or names or pricks any consciences, then please get in touch. He'll probably have changed his name by now, but it's hard to change such a thickly-woven web of lies, and I know there must be more of us out there.

So grab yourself a cup of tea, pop on your best Miss Marple hat and brace yourself.

My story – May 2011
Seb first got in touch with me in May 2011 through the dating website Smooch (yes, I know, I die). His first approach was forward, to say the least: ‘so when are you going to ask me out then?’.  Usually I’d be put right off this sort of arrogant approach, but shallowly I liked his pictures, he ticked all the right boxes and I liked the cut of his jib from his profile. Plus I’d just started a blog called 52 First Dates where I forced myself to go on an internet date every week for a year, and I needed to line up my second date, and Seb seemed like a good enough option. So we started messaging through the site and eventually exchanged numbers to sort out a date.





Within a very short space of time, he had bulldozed his way into my life in epic style. But before we move onto that, I would like you to meet Sebastian P-J, known as Seb, or affectionately known as the boy with the disabled eyes and the Sticklebrick hair:

So here’s his story. Seb is 35 years old, has an older brother Josh, a policeman and sister Amy, a radiographer married to Gary, another policeman. His mum Trish and dad still live in Wales and after many years of marriage have a date night every night. He lives alone in his own 4 bedroomed house in a gated development in Marylebone (part bought thanks to his granny), and works as a primary school teacher in Westminster, in line to become Deputy Head. 

His ex girlfriend Laura used to work in A&E and tragically died of breast cancer a few years ago. He’d stayed with her til the bitter end, despite her wanting him to father her children as she was dying which put him through incredible emotional strain. Since Laura, he has been on his own with the exception of an alleged affair with a daytime television presenter. He likes to paint, makes excellent roast potatoes, loves Swansea City, adores his 3 year old niece Tilly and his ‘sexy gran’, used to play the drums in a band and last year did a photographic challenge during which he had to photograph himself doing something new every day. His granddad is stricken with Alzheimers and Seb is the glue to keep them all together. 

His best friend is 'Phillip' who was severely disabled as a result of botched childhood innoculations. They'd been to school together, and Seb would regularly visit him. He is a huge football fan, and they'd regularly go to watch matches together.

Seb is sweet, sensitive, the life and soul of the party, and on paper he is quite possibly the perfect boyfriend. And reading all of this back now the same warning bells I had at the time are ringing again.

 One thing that did concern me about Seb was from an early stage, his flirting technique needed work. He could be seedy. So each time he crossed one of these tasteless lines, I would tell him to stop being a sex pest, and to be-fucking-have. And, like any sensitive man would, he'd get back behind the line he had crossed. Against my better judgement, because I had to meet my quota for 52 First Dates style I agreed to meet him for a date, because you can only really judge a person properly when you're sat across a table for them. So, two weeks later we arranged to meet on a Monday in a pub in Soho. And this is where is all began...


                                                       At the silent disco
Monday afternoon rolled around, and an hour before we were due to meet, he texted to cancel on the grounds that he had had a disclosure at school. One of his pupils had told him that she was being abused by her father, and he had spent the afternoon involved with the police and social services. All in all, that sounds like a pretty rubbish day at work, so we decided to reschedule for Thursday that week. 

Later that week I went to meet him, and we had even spoken an hour beforehand to arrange the venue, but he never turned up. I was not just furious but utterly embarrassed that I’d got it so wrong. A couple of days later I heard from him out of the blue. It emerged that he had snapped a cruciate ligament during football training and had ended up in hospital. Wow, this boy really is unlucky I thought.

The following week we started speaking on the phone. He would text me throughout the day and ring me every night. He would send me photos of himself, some doing kooky things, some of him on holiday, a couple of him lying in bed. He obviously wanted me to fancy him, and as you can tell from the photos, he's rather lovely on the eye. I was going to turn a blind eye to the borderline narcissism until I'd at least met the bugger. We'd chat for hours at a time, getting to know each other, finding common ground, taking the piss, developing our own in jokes and getting all the more closer.



A spider diagram Seb sent to me. Red felt-tip pen. Of course...
I won't lie, I was starting, in part, to fall for him. He had a story for everything, which with the benefit of my retrospectrometer bears all the hallmarks of a pathological fantasist. But for every sweet comment, funny photo, sensitive anecdote there was always a little question mark and yet another subtle little attempt to get me to give him a little sleazy titillation.

Over the space of about 2 weeks, I must've spent over 20 hours talking to this man. He told me about the death of his ex girlfriend Laura, his best friend 'Phillip' who was brain-damaged, an alleged affair he had with a popular daytime television presenter, the practical jokes played between him and his brother (including bricking up the front door and inviting a tramp round for Christmas lunch), I felt I knew everything about this man. And in return he knew about my job, my hobbies, my previous relationships, and I’m ashamed to say some skeletons in my closet. And looking back over our conversations now, for every hour on the phone, there was always one little seedy undertone. I can remember him casually slipping things like bra size, anal sex, contraception and even menstrual cycles into conversation. But because they were all anecdotal, or heavily embedded in the in jokes or the sensitive side of things, the alarm bells tinkled a little, but it was nothing I felt I couldn't handle. These are topics that come up with friends, and after all this time, we were becoming friends, friends under a sort of pressure cooker intensity. But every time he tried to eek out something personal from me, my bra size, my views on contraception, my personal cycle, I would bat them away out of the park and he'd be left with nothing. Reading this back now, I feel sick to my stomach.  With the benefit of hindsight, I can see now that all this investment in me was for those tiny little seedy snippets.

But by now I still wanted to meet the man behind the smooth Welsh tones. I needed to check that Seb in real life was who I thought he was, and any such salaciousness could be spotted in person, and nipped in the bud. By this time my curiosity had already got the better of me, and I'd tried to find him online. But to pour fuel to my already-increasing suspicions, I could find no trace of him. Not even using journalistic tools used to verify identities. And I am, if I do say my self, pretty fucking good at finding people online. Everyone's on there somewhere, whether it'd for an old school photo, a Just Giving donation, or a vox pop in the local press. But nevertheless, we arranged to meet on the following Friday night and I was determined to get the the bottom of this. However, come Friday afternoon, he cancelled again, this time with the best reason yet: his brother Josh, a policeman, had been having an affair with a colleague's wife. The colleague then found out, a fight broke out, the colleague winds up in hospital and the brother ends up in custody. Oh, and her baby might well have been his brother's. So Seb goes home to look after his devastated family, and once again I'm left high and dry and wondering what sort of a dramatic life this guy has.

By this point I am still hearing daily warning bells like tinnitus, but to honour my blog, and because I was gradually being more and more charmed by this man in a shameful way, I was determined to meet him to find out once and for all what was going on. 
Then, out of the blue on Tuesday, came some rather sinister messages one night from a strange number. The conversation went as follows:
07507 *** ***: New number peeps (20.32)
Me: Who is this? x (20.42)
07507 *** ***: You were great xx (21.01)
Me: Who is this??? x (21.12)
07507 *** ***: You know (21.24)
CTS: No I don't...this is your new number (21.43)
07507 *** ***:  I hear you are seeing somebody (21.51)
Me: Who is this? (21.52)
07507 *** ***:You fukin no who. Lets start where we left off xx (22.47)
Me: No I have no idea who you are. You either tell me who this is or stop messaging (23.04)
07507 *** ***:Don't mess with me Claire. Played hard to get b4 (23.08)
Me: Who is this? (23.08)
07507 *** ***:You know who so let us stop f***ing around with the other geezer (23.10)
Me: No I do not know who this is. I don't have your number and I have no idea what you are talking about. Leave me alone. (23.10)
07507 *** ***:I will find out who he is. If I can't have youre nor can he (23.12)
Me: Who the f*** are you? (23.13)
07507 *** ***:Small the world but it pays to be street wise (23.14)
Me: Tell me who the f*** you are and how you have my number or I'm going to the police (23.17)

At no point had I ever told anyone I was 'seeing' someone, because I’d been single for 8 years by this point, and my first instinct was that Seb had bought another phone to try and frighten me. This was all very wrong. During these messages, Seb called me and caught me in some distress that these messages, and the first thing I did was to check that it wasn't him. I just knew he had something to do with it. I just knew. He was mortified at the accusation, denied it fervently, and then offered to help by sending the number to his brother-in-law, another policeman on duty. He also queried whether this could be one of my skeletons come back to get me, something I knew was an impossible option. But then he offered to send a cab to collect me and I could stay in his spare room if I was frightened. Ding-a-ling-a-fucking-ling. Not on your life sunshine. I tried calling the strange number back and it rang and rang but no answer and no voicemail. The next day I tried the same and the phone was off. This bore all the markings of a PAYG phone, and one I suspected had been bought for purpose. And the more I thought about it, I suspected he had used something I told him in trust to scare me, and then he could sweep in and look after me.

The next few days were pretty horrific, he was still calling and messaging, one minute offering to look after me and the other expressing such horror that I was still questioning who he was. I knew I had to find out the answer to draw a line under everything. Everything I knew about him was just so intangible, nothing I could use to verify his identity. I was driving myself mad. Here was this handsome man who had been increasingly adoring of me, and yet the alarms were still clanging all over the shop. So today I finally asked where he worked. If he had nothing to hide, he would have told me. But because of these messages that had apparently spooked him too, he refused. This cemented my thoughts that he was to blame for the strange messages and that he wasn't who he said he was. I confronted him, and I said he either had to give me some proof of who he was or to leave me alone. I mentioned all of the failed date attempts, all at his behest, and said he had no intention of ever meeting me. The photo I then received told me everything I needed to know.



Why on earth would you buy someone some expensive perfume when you have never met them? Why? But even more bizarrely, look at the reflection in the bottle. Just look. That, my friends, is not the tall, dark, handsome Welsh stranger that had been messaging and calling me constantly for a month. Oh no. That is a total stranger. I have been joking all along about the film Catfish, and it turns out I have just been living it myself. I confronted Seb straight away only to be told I was being paranoid, and then I got a number of messages telling me what a fuck up I was, how I was wrong in the head and how he wished he'd never messaged me. His change of tone confirmed everything I needed to know. I now have more than enough reason to believe I had been being groomed all along. I won't lie, when I thought I was potentially fucking up something with someone I loved the sound of, I felt terrible. But now, I feel relieved. I am trying not to dwell over the hours of chats we have had over the last few weeks because I do feel incredibly violated, despite my constant vigilance of holding things back. I hate that I have given so much of myself to someone who, if we're being honest, I did have some reservations about from the very start before he started to win me over. Late that night he texted me  telling me how he was falling in love with me, trying to get me back into open conversation. I told him to leave me alone or I would contact the police. I never heard from him again.
I reported the incident to the police, but since Seb had not harmed me, threatened me nor defrauded me of money, there was no crime. The most they could tell me was that someone with a ‘similar name’ had been reported for something similar a year before, but it wasn’t followed up. The only thing there was to go on were the threatening messages which could be seen as harassment. 

Fast forward a week after posting my blog and the first of many revelations happened.

 C's story
C was catapaulted into the Seb saga by utter fluke. After spattering my blog all over social networking sites in an attempt to get some answers about who or what Seb was, I was utterly astonished at some outstanding detective work amongst my Facebook friends. One of them recognised the background of the silent disco photo as being in Milton Keynes shopping centre. After posting this observation on my wall, within hours both her and another friend had managed to locate the man in the photos and had sent me links to his profile. His surname was exactly the same as one of the key names in Seb's web of lies. Unbefuckinglievable. 

On Sunday morning I wrote perhaps one of the strangest emails that he will have ever received. 'Hello, you don't know me, but I feel like I know you. Don't freak out now, but have a little read of my blog...' Would he reply? I know I would...but this is just too fucking weird right? Right! Sunday night, as if by magic, C got back in touch, and I can safely say he was as totally shocked by what was going on as I was. It turns out that many of the details I had been told, personal details, about his life, likes, loves had been lifted straight from his life. Other details had come from elsewhere. But in any case that, and the fact that I had been sent around 80 photos documenting his life over the last few years, was enough to freak him right out. Every single picture of Seb I'd been sent were actually of C. So where now? I'd been duped by some sort of pathological liar, and C had had his life stolen.

I then went about sending C every photo I had been sent from 'Sebastian' in an attempt to piece together how he could have acquired all these pictures. I sent him as much of a dossier as I could, including the last few digits of his phone numbers in case C could identify it as maybe one of his so-called friends who would have had access to all these pictures. But what we then found out made us both feel physically sick. C emailed me back with Sebastian's exact telephone number, and said it belonged to a woman who called herself Amy, whom he had been messaging back in 2008 through Plenty of Fish. He had never spoken to her over the phone only text, but like Seb, she'd cancelled meetings on a number of occasions. It turns out we had both been speaking to the same person.


'Amy' as sent to C, which we've since traced to having come from a MILF site

C’s ex girlfriend used to work in A&E, as Seb’s ex Laura had, but unlike Laura she was still very much alive and well. C also collected vintage Cortinas and restored them, which had become part of Seb’s story with me. He had also done a to do something new every day for a year. He had a group devoted to this on Facebook, and nearly every single photo Seb had sent me had been lifted from this group. Seb had a different picture to back up every anecdote he had to spin me.

Randomly Amy had got in touch with C out of the blue by text on that same telephone number in early 2011 asking for photos of buttonfly jeans because he knew that C used to work for Levis. In the spider diagram Seb had sent me, he’d put buttonfly jeans as one of the things he liked.

The phone number both C and I had for Seb / 'Amy' was 0770* *** 114. They may have also used a phone with the number 0750* *** 375, the number used to send me threatening messages.

Between the two of us, we had C removed from Smooch, updated the police, and that we thought was that. Until two months later... 

D’s story
On 25th July 2011 I had a message on Twitter that made my blood run cold. I had a message from a girl telling me she was the latest ‘idiot’. I messaged her privately to find out what was going on, and it turned out that Seb’s latest victim, the girl he moved onto after me had been shown my blog by her mother, who had grown suspicious that her daughter was falling for a man she’d never met. Understandably she was distraught, and that day cut off all ties with him. After she’d calmed down we messaged at length to try and establish what we both knew about him. As it turns out he’d spun almost an identical web of lies for her.

Over the course of just 2 weeks, D and Seb had spoken on the phone for over 60 hours. He was totally sucking her in. According to her, he was also 35 years old, born on 19th April, lived in a gated property in Marylebone where everything was painted black and which apart from the lounge which his mum had painted lime green and brown. He’d recently lost his grandfather, and his sister Amy (37) a sonographer was married to a policeman called Gary and they had a child together, Tilly. He also had a best friend called Steve, who Seb described as ‘short, ginger and rich’ who was marrying a girl in August who was only after him for his money. Seb was due to be the best man, the stag do was on July 15th and they’d gone paint-balling and playing golf. Both and I had had the same photo backing up Seb’s paint-balling story, one lifted from C's collection.

When D started talking about Seb’s ex Laura, again the same story had rung true. They’d met on a train from Bristol to London, chatted the whole way, had gone for lunch once they arrived and the rest was history. Seb had been teaching in the Bristol area (where he’d had an affair with his headmistress), but relocated to London only six weeks later to be with Laura.

She spoke in detail about his relationship with Laura. They had a turbulent relationship, but they always ended up back together. The last 2 years they spent together, she had been ill and wanted to have a baby and get married before she died, but he didn’t want to be left bringing up a child on his own. At Christmas 2010 after she’d died, he’d had to get his Mum to tell her parents he couldn’t cope with having contact any more. When Laura had died, he’d taken his vintage Cortina (which he won as a bet when he was 18) and drove all the way to Cortina in Italy to get away. As it turns out, C collected and restored old cars, including Cortinas.

D also knew the same information about Seb’s family. His father, Benjamin, was originally from Yorkshire and his mum Trish was from Tenby.  She’d  worked in a hotel, and one night Benjamin and his friends stayed out late so she’d locked them out. Eventually she let him in, and they chatted all through the night. Later, he tracked her down, and they got married and had been together 45 years. Both are also teachers.
Seb’s grandparents were also from Tenby, and were very wealthy. It was Seb’s grandfather Harry that had died. He had a box at Swansea City football club which would always stay in the family. Seb would always take 'Phillip'  to go and watch from there.
D knew a lot about 'Phillip' too. 'Phillip'   was 7 years older than Seb, and they had met at school. 'Phillip'  had been left disabled and brain-damaged as a child. 'Phillip's  mum was an alcoholic and had abused him, so he was taken away and put in a home in Milton Keynes. Seb would visit him in Milton Keynes, saw how sad he was to be there, so brought him back to Wales. As it turns out, C is from Milton Keynes.

The things D knew Seb loved were Wales, Tenby. Swansea City (he’d ring her up drunk singing Swansea City songs, as he’d done with me), Cortinas, cricket, squash, running, taking photos and art. His best friends were Steve, Lucy and 'Phillip'.  They’d also play Scrabble a lot, with his username Sebbie 76. D had met him through Smooch, but she’d also found him on OK Cupid.

After finding my blog, she never spoke to or heard from him again. We both thought that was that, and we'd never hear about Sebastian Pritchard-Jones ever again.

Fast forward seven months...

M’s story
M got in touch with me through the blog on 27th of February this year. She’d also met Seb through Smooch under the same username Soujourn. The couple had been texting and then speaking from April 2011 until June 2011, just before he moved onto me. Once again the same stories rang true – his ex Laura had died, his sister Amy was a sonographer, he had a brother called Gareth who was a policeman having an affair (almost the same as Josh in my case), his niece Tilly was ill in hospital and his best friend was 'Phillip'  who she’d actually spoken to over the phone.

As part of their routine, they’d have ‘cuddle time’ in bed over the phone, and she said he’d asked her some of the personal questions he’d asked me which had been met with the same distain. When Seb had got in touch, M had been going through a terrible time nearly losing her mother and she was in a very vulnerable place. Within 4 days of them first messaging he knew about her mum and kept asking more and more questions. He totally got into her head, posing as a knight in shining armour. He’d even tried the ‘get in a cab and I’ll look after you’ line with her which of course she didn’t act upon.

After he stood her up the first time, because Tilly had split her head open and had to go to hospital, he sent a bouquet of 12 red roses to her former workplace which she thought was a very over-the-top gesture. The second time they were due to meet, Seb had texted her half an hour beforehand to confirm details, then told her about Laura and cancelled because he was getting ‘freaked out’ about how things were moving on. Later she had drunken phone calls and text saying he’d made a big mistake, but M called everything off. A few weeks later, Seb got back in touch, and M questioned who he really was and if he had lied. He denied everything, and it all started again.

After standing her up for the second time, M set up a bogus profile on Smooch looking for ‘no strings fun’. She checked out Seb’s profile and they started messaging. She sent him her housemate’s phone number, and was shocked to discover he was sending her very explicit and ‘out of character’ messages. She gave him a fake address, they arranged to ‘meet’, and of course he never turned up, because apparently he had fallen asleep. The next night, he texted again saying he was in Soho and wanted to meet up, and kept calling and calling the phone. Her housemate panicked and didn’t answer, at which point he turned nasty and accused her of being ‘one of his crazy exes’.

M last arranged to meet Seb on 11th June 2012, knowing full well he would never turn up. He didn’t, and they never spoke again.

In total they had been on contact for 7 weeks, with a 2 week break after he stood her up for a second time. When M and I compared dates, Seb last stood M up 8 days before my first date with Seb, so he had already been lining me up at the end of their ‘relationship’.
This was someone clearly planning the whole duping and grooming process knowing full well that sooner or later his victim's would tire of his psychotic bullshit.

So there we go, three victims and the owner of a stolen identity found, all thanks to some stupid blog piece I wrote bitterly after being stood up. This thing was getting bigger, and weirder. But as I was soon to find out, the three of us had got off lightly....
  
Rachel’s story
Rachel got in touch with me on 19th June 2012. She had been sucked in by Seb for 9 months during 2010. But this Seb had a different face 

***photo since removed after tracking down the original subject***

Once I started to speak to Rachel, the same stories started to come out, but there were some key differences. She had met him through Smooch, but he had gone by the user name Agonal, a medical reference which as a senior ward sister she recognised. He also had different photos, even though the rest of the key information was the same. She later saw him on the same site, but he’d changed his username to Soujourn and his photos had changed. He tried to justify his new wearing of glasses by saying his mum persuaded him to get an eye test, but he was too vain to get glasses. The glasses later became part of his spiel to both D and I, the boy with the ‘disabled eyes’.

 She knew Seb was a ‘good Catholic boy’, who taught at a Catholic school and who had been recently promoted to Deputy Head, and bragged about having his name on a plaque on the door, despite not being able to provide photographic evidence. They would also play Scrabble, and he’d send her pictures of chocolate Scrabble letters spelling out messages of love.

Rachel, herself a nurse,  had been spun the same lies about Seb’s dead ex, although in her version of events the ex was called Ali. She knew about his niece, Tilly, who had been born to Amy on 1st September 2010. He had even rung her from the hospital to tell her the news. Seb would send her many pictures to back up his anecdotes, as well as pictures of his dinners, and later on, also some sexually explicit ones. Rachel had the same number for Seb as the rest of us, but also had a phone number for his sister Amy, 0785* *** 612. 

Their first date was cancelled because his grandfather, known affectionately as ‘the War Hero’, had been taken to hospital, and he later died. Another date was cancelled because Seb had to return to Bristol to testify in a child abuse case from a disclosure at his former school.  He had called Rachel from the hotel on his lunch breaks to tell her about the case. The excuses for not meeting just kept on coming, a flooding at his parents property (and having to rescue the disabled tenant), his sister having a baby, problems with Josh and his wife, and counselling sessions to get over his ex.

As she grew increasingly suspicious about these cancellations she tried to find evidence these events took place – no court records of a child abuse case in the Bristol area, no obituary or record of a funeral for his grandfather in Tenby, nothing at all.

Rachel and Seb had a break from October 2010 – December 2010 after Seb manufactured a mammoth falling out. When he tried to patch things up with her, he slipped up by calling his dead ex Laura and not Ali, which Rachel picked up on. In previous stories he’d told Rachel, Laura had been another ex, a radiographer, who had cheated on him. Rachel and Seb were then ‘together’  until June 2011.

Rachel says Seb controlled her life for 9 months. During this time he fluctuated wildly between being loving and affectionate to aggressive and suspicious.  He claimed to have bought her perfumes, flowers and other gifts which never emerged. He accused her of cheating, and tried to frighten her by saying that his policeman brother Josh had run a search on her to find out about her infidelities. It's enough to scare the shit out of anyone. It is emotional abuse. And this is the sickest, lowest thing Seb had done to date...

Then only 2 months ago a fifth victim of Sebastian Pritchard-Jones got in contact.

Ali’s story
Yes, Ali - the name of Seb's dead ex in his version of events with Rachel. Ali got in touch with me on 14th September 2012 after Seb had tried getting back in touch with her via Skype. They had been in a relationship from January 2010 until November 2010. Ali had been so destroyed by Seb, she moved abroad and had to seek counselling as a result. And her Seb, once again, looked totally different, but the backstory was the same.

***photo since removed after tracking down the original subject***

Ali had met Seb through Guardian Soulmates, under the username SebPJ in January 2010. 

Once again, the key information was almost identical, sister was Amy who had a daughter called Tilly. He had an older brother called Gary who was a policeman, both his parents were teachers and his mum was called Patricia. He grew up in Tenby, his birthday was April 18th and his friend Steve (Lewis?) was a dentist. His best friend 'Phillip'  was disabled. Seb also claimed to have a medical condition called Addison’s Disease.

The first time Ali was due to meet Seb, he broke his leg whilst playing at a charity football match. As with the rest of his other victims, they would text all day and speak for hours every night. Three weeks later, they were due to meet, but Ali discovered he had given her a false address. He turned his phone off for 3 days and then called her back drunk in tears about his dead wife Laura (not girlfriend). By this point, Ali was smitten, they’d speak until midnight every night, and would sleep with their phones by their pillows as if they were sleeping in the same bed. On Saturdays, they had a routine of picking horses together and placing bets. She also knew about the 4 bedroom house in Marylebone, the art classes, the photography, and the inheritance. They also spoke about the future, and he called her the Future Mrs Pritchard-Jones. She knew him to live off Boswell Street / Balcombe Street, he was a member of 5 Cavendish Square and Wentworth Golf Club.

Whilst they were together, Seb had ongoing issues related to his ex Laura, and Ali said she’d stand by him through therapy. Laura had apparently told Seb she never wanted him to have another woman.
Seb would frequently send Ali gifts, cash with a hand-written note and flowers. He also claimed to have bought her jewellery and clothes, but they never materialised. He also paid for taxis to take her to places, and claimed to have added her to his bank account, although once again that never materialised. Once he transferred a sum of money to her, but the money came from an account under the name of Amy in April 2010.  Seb said he’d had fraud committed on his account, so he’d had to use his sister’s. Then after sending her the gifts,  if Ali didn’t appear grateful enough he’d call her selfish and ungrateful, yet another way to exert power over her.

After 4 months of his supposed therapy, they were due to meet up. His family were away in Jamaica at the time, but because of his broken leg, Seb couldn’t go. The family were stuck out there due to the volcanic ash debacle, so when they final returned, Ali and Seb were meant to go and meet his parents together. She woke up at 5am to go to the airport, tried to ring him but his phone was off and she was heart-broken. He didn’t contact her for 2 weeks, and when he did it was to accuse her of being unfaithful and claiming he had proof. By this time, May 2010, things had got back on track, but Ali knew she was never going to meet him.

In June 2010, behind Seb’s back, Ali decided to move to Sydney for good to get away from him. In July 2010, Ali ran the London 10k race, and Seb frightened her by saying he’d seen her there.
Throughout their relationship, Seb was very controlling and jealous. He stopped Ali going out, would tell her he didn’t like the clothes she was wearing and would punish her by putting her in the ‘naughty corner’. He also said he would killer her if anyone else had her.

Ali left for Sydney on 9th November 2010. 45 minutes before she boarded the plane, Seb rang her to give her one last chance to tell him the truth about cheating on him, because he claimed he had her followed and had photographic evidence. She had been on a date in the latter months, and there was something about  the way he phrased it made her think he really did know.

Once Ali was in Sydney, she had very little contact with Seb. He said he’d booked a ticket to go out to Australia to ‘get her’, but of course he never turned up.

So there you have it - Sebastian Pritchard-Jones has worked his sick fucking magic on at least six innocent people. Of course, it won't end there. And it hasn't.                                                                                                                      

UPDATE

Ali got in touch with me because totally out of the blue, because Seb had got back in contact via Skype trying to wheedle his way back into her life. He'd threatened to go to Australia to find her, but was trying to make her jealous by telling her about the new love of his life, Liz, who by all accounts is either yet another one of his victims or, most probably, is a figment of his fucked up imagination. He sent her pictures of himself allegedly with his new girlfriend Liz. Yet more stolen photos of unsuspecting people.

Since Ali got in touch, her Rachel and I have been emailing regularly, sharing all the photos and information we have to try and find out more about who the hell this 'thing' is. Ali also has a massive dossier of photos illustrating all of Seb's alleged family and friends. 

Interestingly in one of Ali's photographs she spotted that not one but both of their Seb's were in the same photo. These guys were obviously friends.

***photo since removed after tracking down the original subject***

Ali has a number of group shots featuring her Seb, and we need to find out who this guy is as there's no way he can know that one of his 'friends' is using his image, personal parts of his own life to groom and abuse women.

Another really major area of concern with me is that of 'Phillip'.  This is obviously a very poorly man whose photos are being callously used to curry sympathy for someone for the vilest reasons possible. We have accumulated a number of photos of 'Phillip'  that Seb has been sending around various women and it's not right. The person behind this sickery must have contact or access to him, and his family and carers need to know about it. It chills me to the bone that someone is using someone like this for such ill means, but unfortunately this is the only way I can let people know about it.

So there you go, Sebastian Pritchard-Jones strikes again. Someone out there must recognise people in these pictures. Someone out there must have heard these stories before. I always had my reservations that the internet harboured a whole load of weird, and this is one pretty bloody good example. This creature is stealing lives, weaving lies and doing a whole lot of emotional harm. But who's to say he'll stop there? Please help us find him. Email this article to everyone you know, tweet it, slap it all over your Facebook and help us stop this mind-fuckery before more people get hurt.

And if you have heard any of these stories before, if you've been a victim of this serial nutjob or know anyone in any of these pictures, please please email me. I don't believe for one minute any of these innocent people shown in these pictures know about or would ever consent to them being used in the manner with which they are, and I want to do everything I can to stop any more people getting hurt by what appears to be a very sick and very sad individual.

Until next time readers...and mark my words, there will be a next time...











107 comments:

  1. wow this is shocking!!! i have linked this up on my facebook page!
    https://www.facebook.com/neveradullmomentwithmissy

    I will tweet also and warn other women. i am sorry you all had to go through this, i have had it done to myself too and it can be difficult to overcome such betrayal! well done for speaking out and i hope you find whoever it is! shameful

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  2. Fucking nutter!

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  3. Have you approached any mainstream journalists with this CTS? It serves as a real expose of everything terrifying about internet dating, the availability of information online, the danger of people not listening when the media warn about locking down your facebook profile... the mind boggles. I love you even more for pursuing this and I really hope this guy is found. I dread to think how many other delusional and cruel individuals out there are online weaving similar stories for people who are genuinely trying to make a connection... xx

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  4. Wow - that is really creepy! The reflection of the person taking the photo in the perfume bottle is chilling. Perhaps you try and find the perfume in a shop and see what your reflection looks like in it as I'm sure that it distorts the appearance somewhat, but it almost seems as if it is a rather large lady with blonde hair that has taken the photo...

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  5. I know it's not much help but I recognise most of the lads in the pictures and especially Paul Griffith. I live in Northampton and could be from nights out etc. I'll have a look through my friends pics on facebook to see if any of the group ones appear and will email you.

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  6. Really sorry about that huge web address,but if you copy paste into browser you can see.

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  7. Is it only me who sees a bit of a resemblence between the reflection in the perfume bottle and the guy at the front of the picture where the group of guys are wearing smarter clothes? (the caption being "Ali's seb is second from the left, right next to Rachel's Seb. And who is the guy in the front?")
    It would make sense that the perpetrator would be a close friend to the people who's pictures hes using (so he can access them and get new ones as and when?)
    Just a thought, I'm sorry this has happened to you and hope no one else falls for this sicko x

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    Replies
    1. I was thinking the same anon, they resemble each other! Scary!

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    2. I thought exactly the same!! I feel the truth is coming really soon.

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    3. I also thought this

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    4. I thought that too!!!

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    5. My thoughts exactly. It was the first thing I thought of.

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    6. That is a guy with brown hair. The person in the picture looks, like a blonde woman. Plus, money came from an account with the name Amy. Most likely Seb is a woman named Amy.

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  8. Absolutely spine chilling but not to be rude, please change your font it's very hard for me to read.

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  9. Use tineye.com to reverse search all images that you have, and maybe you will find more clues. This person is terribly creepy.

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    Replies
    1. google images does a reverse image search too.

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  10. surely stealing people's identity is a crime? if they frequent dating sites I'll bet they know this blog too.. grim

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  11. I'd noticed that resemblence too before even reading these comments...

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  12. Hi there, I just came across this on Twitter and wanted to let you know that I've shared the post on Reddit, where there's a group that specializes in trying to track down people like this. I'd definitely suggest you get on there personally so you can answer any questions and message people with specific details that may aid in the hunt!

    Let's catch this asshole!

    http://www.reddit.com/r/RBI/comments/12wlmn/hi_rbi_a_serial_internet_stalker_has_been/

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  13. I was about to say the same ... The perfume pic guy looks the same as the large guy in the front of the ali's seb group picture !?

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  14. How did he send these images to you? If it was through email, did you check the exif data attached to the images? They could tell you exactly where he took those pictures.

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  15. Can you not try and trace the football tops worn by the second guy? I mean they look like team photos that have been taken. So possibly ametuer (sp) football team? Just an idea. X

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  16. whilst this is obviously horrible I have to make two points : 1) it does not follow that the perpetrator is known by the people they steal the picture from - you need to identify any item of truth , not the people who have had their identity stolen. I would suggest figuring out their real interests and areas of knowledge. A fake profile may help with this if no information is known 2) perhaps it's due to a late night but my sympathy is a bit limited. Instead of wasting your time and avoiding what should be the iron clad 2 date stood up rule (chance 3 does not happen regardless of excuse) try dating someone real instead of holding out for someone pretty, wealthy but non existent..

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  17. I agree, fat guy in the perfume bottle photo....fat guy looking grumpy with all his goodlooking mates around him...who happen to be having their photos used by some creep online.....??
    When I was 15 I spoke to someone for almost a year online who never met up with me (thankgod) but would emotionally blackmail me and tell me he'd slit his wrists and that he needed me. I look back and feel sick now!! I hope no one gets hurt by this guy!

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  18. Thanks for all your comments guys, trust me we're going through every lead we have and are making excellent progress.

    And Anonymous at 9.44 - when we all spoke to this guy we thought he was a teacher. If you've taken the time to read the rest of my blog you'll know that I don't go for wealthy types, nor do I give a shit about how pretty they are. A little prioritisation might be nice, this isn't about me, this is about finding this nutter.

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  19. http://i.imgur.com/Y0Vqb.jpg

    Here's an enlarged image of the man in the perfume bottle. You can see that he's obese, wearing a black/navy shirt, in a small room with a window to the left and has an old looking (possibly CRT) computer monitor off to his right there. Not sure how useful that is, but someone might have been in that room and recognise it.

    The poster above isn't wrong in saying there's a resemblance with the big bloke in the black shirt in the group shot, particularly with the shape of the chin, but it's too hard to call it and it'd be grossly unfair to outright accuse that man without knowing anything about him.

    Hope that helps anyway.

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  20. It's not a guy. Surprised no-one has noticed this yet, but the handwriting on the notes is clearly a woman's. A fat woman with bingo wings according to the perfume bottle reflection.

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    Replies
    1. I totally agree, it looks like a woman in the enlarge perfume bottle photo.

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    2. I wouldn't assume that the person who took the photo of the perfume is the same person responsible. What's cheaper? Buying perfume and photographing it or finding someone on ebay selling perfume and lifting the photo?

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    3. Of course the same person who took the photo of the perfume is the same person otherwise the personal note to Claire wouldn't be in the Picture would it?! Just saying.

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    4. you're right! the personal note to Claire in the photo of the perfume it's the proof that the fat man/woman who is reflected in the bottle IS the woman/man who sends the messages! It's not a picture taken from e-bay

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    5. But you are forgetting that the women all spoke to C on the phone quite a bit, so it could not be a woman. It was a man's voice. When he was pretending to be "Amy" to "C" (the man who's identity he stole), C only had contact with him over text, not on the phone, because he wouldn't have a women's voice. Presumably he is a straight man and the "Amy" relationship was only used to amass a database of pictures in order to solidify his stolen identity to use against future victims.

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  21. I have to say the reflection looks a lot like the big guy in the front of the first group of guys photo! Would make sense if he knew the guys personally.....

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  22. That enlarged reflection picture looks like an overweight blonde woman to me, look at the shape of the top. That's a low cut top and it looks like boobs to me. So hard to tell though. Hope you find him/her

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  23. The reflection in the perfume bottle is a woman. She is wearing a black v-neck top and she has blonde hair.

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  24. This is sick!

    Good on you for sharing it and trying to get it known! x

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  25. I am shocked and, quite frankly sickened. I'm going to tweet this and Facebook it for awareness.

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  26. I wondered about it being a woman too. If money was sent from an account in a woman's name, could this possibly be her?

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  27. I don't think it's the friend, it's definitely a woman in that perfume photo.

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  28. That second picture of Ali's Seb (the first of the football strip ones) is taken from a Newspaper that I have seen before but I can't put my finger on it. I really really recognise him but I can't think where from!

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    Replies
    1. I agree, the minute i saw that picture I felt i had seen it somewhere before- but i have no idea where. But could have been guardian soulmates!

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  29. Wow scary stuff I hope this is seen by loads and is solved!!
    Call me crazy but to me the reflection looks like a woman with longish blonde Hair!

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  30. Why are you so sure its a MAN thats tormenting all these people?

    Zoom in on the perfume picture: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_NXXyMGQ2Fo/UJpsbLo0ETI/AAAAAAAAAlc/3GvKI6YkRQo/s1600/IMG_31281.jpg

    The reflection, it looks like a ladies top, the hairline looks like a ladies haircut, my guess is the troll is female.

    Why wouldn't 100% of the photos be lifted from other peoples social media?

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  31. A shocking read. For what it's worth I'll retweet, and I also
    think you should speak to a newspaper or magazine. It's a fascinating story.
    The person taking the perfume bottle pic is definitely a woman. It's just unfortunate that the overweight guy appears in the group shot. I am certain the perpetrator is a bitter, fucked up, fat woman. Though that doesn't explain the man's voice on the phone. Could it be two people working together to get their kicks?
    Hope they find the person anyway.

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  32. I disagree - it must be a man, these women all spoke to him for god's sake! Surely you'd have some clue if it was a woman from the voice?

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  33. Fat guys get bingo wings and moobs too folks...

    Aimee x

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    Replies
    1. Yes, and that "Sebastian Pritchard-Jones" might be a woman doesn't fit with the fact that several women have spoken to him on the telephone.

      But I've stared at that picture enlarged throughout the day and the person reflected in the bottle looks like a woman: from the cut of the hair to the exposed chest.

      Someone, somewhere has created an elaborate fantasy. It's a possibility (even if it is an unlikely one) that "Sebastian Pritchard-Jones" is the creation of a woman, or that there are two or more people involved and one of them is a woman.

      That several women have spoken to him and none seem to have doubted that he was a man is a very good reason to presume that he is, indeed, a man. But that's the only picture anyone has of him and, to me, it looks more like the reflection of a woman than it does of a man.

      Delete
  34. Hmm interesting and scary at the same time. Ladies be careful about all these internet dating sites ending up meeting or getting in touch with a few unhinged people.

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  35. I can't believe this. My mum online dates and I've shown her this. I've encouraged her to delete it, it's just too risky. I'm absolutely horrified that people will stoop so low. This is why I tend to avoid putting pictures of myself on the internet.

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  36. The man in the wheelchair has personalized socks on in one photo's. Apparently his first name is Paul.

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  37. The t-shirts in one of the group photo say Robs 50th Benidorm Bash

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  38. Just spent the past half an hour reading this and the comments.
    I think we need to remember, a lot of people have their FB settings as public so it could be that he's just gone on the search for someone and found them, lifted their info and their images.

    Have you thought that this could be a man and woman working together? I agree that the perfume bottle looks like a woman. I don't know what they'd get out of it but it made me feel sick when he/she/they offered to send a cab. This whole thing needs to go back to the police. I get their point of it not being a crime yet but what happens if a young woman gets into a cab he sends- what fate will they face?

    x

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  39. I agree with the majority here - the reflection is almost certainly a woman. The shape of the hands and forearms look female along with the hair and v-neck as pointed out by others.

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  40. This is truly shocking, just goes to show you can be sucked into a "romance" without ever meeting the person

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  41. http://tineye.com may help to find the source of the photos if they are publicly displayed.

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  42. I'd suggest Google Image Search for finding out who the photographs are (they have the most comprehensive record of the web after all). It's here:

    http://images.google.com

    All you have to do is upload a pic and it will then go around the web trying to find other copies of it online.

    Hope that helps

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  43. My 2 cents; whilst the pic on the perfume bottle does look like a women when enlarged, if you look at the big dude in the group shot it also has the same chin as him, and possibly even a similar shirt? So not a low cut women's top, but simply a shirt undone into a v like he has in the group shot. No?

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  44. The perfume bottle is really interesting. The person orchestrating this whole thing isn't thick - a massive fuck up, yes, but not stupid - so it seems very strange to me that they'd slip up and allow that photo with a reflection to go out. I almost wonder if it was a cry for help.

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    1. I couldn't agree more! It's like serial killers leaving clues to the police! They're so desperate they almost want to get caught!

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    2. Why would this be a cry of help? Most likely, the picture of the perfume bottle doesn't lead to anything, since he could have just taken it from any Ebay auction. If you want to find out how the person reflected looks like, I am sure there must be graphics software that allows you to remove the distortion created by the perfume bottle shape.

      Delete
  45. Wow. You had a lucky escape. This guy needs stopping.
    Have you tried getting in touch with truckexport.co.uk and finding out who runs the Sunday League football team they sponsor that Ali's 'Seb' seems to play for?
    Here are their details:
    http://www.truckexport.co.uk/Contact/Contact.htm
    Good luck!

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  46. The only resemblance between the perfume bottle reflection and the guy in the photo in the front row is that they are both fat. Their hair is different - short and dark versus long-ish/ blond. No jumping to conclusions, please! PS This is an interesting story. Go to the papers, publish it, catch the guy and make a bit of £££ on the side.

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  47. Keep us posted of further developments please?

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  48. Why haven't these women heard of google reverse image search? If the victims were men they would have found out these were other people's images a long time ago. Sorry girls but if you don't know how to use the internet... maybe stick to the real world.

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    Replies
    1. Let's not be sexist. I'm a woman and I regularly use Google to reverse search images, usually when I know a dating profile is actually a scammer, and I want some proof when reporting it to the site!

      Delete
  49. I wondered if there might be something useful in the EXIF data of the photos that definitely were taken by him. If you were *really* lucky, he'd have taken it on a phone that automatically geotagged the photos and thus it would tell you where he was. EXIF data also contains the serial number of the exact device used to take it.

    I tried looking it up myself, but it looks like all the EXIF data on the images you posted but there wasn't much there - it tells me it was saved with Windows Photo Viewer two days ago, and presumably that was you. Perhaps it'd be a good idea having a look at the EXIF data of the originals.

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    Replies
    1. So far it seems there is no proof any of the pictures here were really taken by him, or did I miss anything?

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    2. Apart from the fact that my name is Claire and there were two photos taken with the same hand-writing which both mention my name. They were the only two I can safely assume were taken especially.

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  50. Had another look at the picture of the perfume bottle enlarged, that thing people are assuming is blonde hair looks like a curtain or door frame spanning down from the ceiling to me now - there's another one on the left of the picture (by his arm) as well. I think where this person is positioned just makes it look it's his hair. Also, there is no alleged blonde hair on the other side of his head, which is bizarre for someone with long hair. Have another look at the picture enlarged.

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  51. Has anyone thought this could be a schizophrenic or tranie ie bloke (for voice) and dresses and acts like woman (hence blonde wig for pic)... The scary thing is this could be someone who continues to groom until the knight in shining armour trick works and the cab to stay in the spare room trick works and the wig wearing persona opens the door pretending to be a friend of seb and invites in and then god knows what he has in store !!!

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    Replies
    1. Maybe he's not a teacher after all but a cab driver.

      - S

      (That's not S for Seb, by the way. Amazing how many of us are not willing to divulge our identities on this particular comment thread!)

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    2. How do we know that someone hasnt already taken that cab ride? :(
      Trace the pics that have your name on them!
      Keep us updated!

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  52. Is there any resemblance connection between the victims ? Does he/she have a preferred type of woman?

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  53. This is the perfect argument for keeping VERY tight control over your info, esp, ur pictures. financial fraud is not the only thing id theft can be used for. Of all the possibites a sick mind can cook up, this is mild. Remember, what you give out can also be mis-used. How much you give adds to the possible power someone can gave over you. Looks like someone was playing a game, at the very least to humiliate people for 'fun' or at worst case scenario, you all dodged a potentially horrible scenario.

    Stay safe! It's a sad sick world out there, but thankfully, not everyone's like that.

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  54. I'm surprised it didn't cross anyone's mind that someone who messes with identity so much could possibly be capable of cross dressing - they have posed as a woman before, and have access to a woman's bank account.
    I think finding the men in the photos including the overweight man (please let's not start using fat as an insult as though all fat people are unhinged) Can't the police trace anything through the bank account that sent money - threatening or abusive texts are harassment.

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  55. Hi this happened to me, same guy, same stories, different name, slightly different pictures. He actually tried to get in contact again a few weeks ago. Message me if you would like more information

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  56. I have had a very similar thing happen to me before. It turned out that the person doing this was a lesbian acquaintance who fancied me but knew I was straight.

    Absolutely awful. Great detective work on your part.

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  57. Long shot but... it's pretty likely Facebook's face recognition could identify these people. Worth getting in touch?

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  58. It occurred to me that this peculiar little sicko may be a cross dresser... Lets face it, they've got that perfume for starters (for all I know, he/she/it indulges in a spritz as a 'treat' after dressing like a lady, complete with wig) and if I'm not mistaken, there appears to be a small envelope tucked down the side at the lid end of the perfume box, and that envelope appears to have a small tear at the top, as if it has been opened (therefore not meant to be given as a gift at all). So I sort of have a mental picture of some sad oversized cross dressing weirdo who sends him/her/it-self presents then imagines what it's like to feel loved.

    After looking at the handwriting evidence, I had several trains of thought. First of all, your culprit is right handed, and I suspect that this particular style of handwriting is not their normal/usual style; if you look at the perfume photograph, 'intention' has a capital 'I', yet that is the only misplaced upper case 'I' in both samples. Looking at the 'D's, it can be seen that they're not all that uniform. I have a relative who always writes in block letters, and through years of experience they developed a particular style of writing each letter that doesn't change from one word to the next... In the 'Things I like blah blah' diagram, the double 'o' in 'boobs' and 'spooning' should be observed, and compared. This leads me to conclude that Creepy McStalker has been smart enough to make the effort to occlude their usual handwriting (easiest and most popular way is... surprise surprise, block writing), whilst being stupid enough to do it badly.

    I find it interesting that many people think that the person in the perfume photograph is a woman... With the weight issue, it is a close call. I have been looking at the person's throat, trying to work out whether it's an adams apple with extra padding, a thyroid issue, or simply extra padding.

    As for the man at the front of the group picture (offices? Private room in a football club, since there's a trophy there?) he certainly stands out as being the odd one out of the group, but I'm not sure Creepy McStalker would be stupid enough to include a picture with himself in it... unless the 'cry for help' bit is in fact true.

    To the ladies who were targeted I can only say that I hope you find who it is, and that perhaps he targeted you because you have something that he doesn't... the ability to truly care for others. Don't lose that.

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  59. remember that this person had stolen all their pictures from other sources. There is boo reason to believe that the reflection in the bottle is them.

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  60. This individual sounds sick! Good luck tracking them down! Sounds like another lead at 17:40 yesterday.....

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  61. Interested by the notion that he might have been a taxi driver. Because using a real taxi would have left some trace of his location, should he have given a genuine one. I imagine that there would be no taxi though. Or anything, any time. Possible transgender? Sensational story here.

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  62. Just looking at the photos of the new girlfriend. Reading the sign in it has led me to the fact this photo was taken in Blackpool.
    http://www.arthurlloyd.co.uk/BlackpoolTheatres/GalleonRenaissance.htm
    Hope that helps.
    HTS

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  63. This is horrifying! The world is such a scary place.

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  64. I think the woman in the wedding dress is the same as the 'new girlfriend' just with newly dyed black hair instead of blonde?

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  65. Similar story but no connections. http://justginatalks.wordpress.com/
    Contact me via twitter @GinaNiD if you wish.

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  66. One thing I can safely tell you is that whomever this creep is, there's a good chance he/she has read this blog and may even have commented on it. These people thrive on the pain they've caused.

    Also, I think this "it's a woman!" stuff is nonsense, as it the "it might be two people!" stuff. 1) People have spoken to this person on the phone. 2) You may get one person this sick, but very rarely will they find the courage to confide it in another who ALSO then turns out to be just as sick.

    And your best chance of finding him is through the phone number, btw.

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  67. This saga is truly fascinating for all sorts of reasons. I agree that the perfume bottle figure does look like a woman but not for the reasons stated above - for me the facial and neck skin is just far too smooth to be a man's.its really unusual for a guy to have skin that hairfree even if they are quite baby faced. Which means two people which seems even odder. I'm also gobsmacked that some of the women have continued to have contact with this person for such extended periods. I'm sorry but it seems naieve in the extreme - once someone seems disinclined to meet or share verifiable information you break contact and change your number. It strikes me that the similarity of the stories told means that they probably are based in fact - I suspect that these stories have been lifted from someone that the perp knows. Hayley (only anonymous because its the easiest way to comment on an iphone!)

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  68. PS This is crying out for a tv documentary. Anyone up for making it? I'm in! Hayley

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  69. Not sure if this will help at all, but no-one has mentioned the brand of perfume: Maitresse by Agent Provocateur. Maybe you could show the photo to them and see if they see anything idiosyncratic about it (e.g. maybe it was a special limited edition box, or something, as this pic seems to suggest: http://www.lacentraldelperfume.com/images/agent-provocateur-maitresse-gold-edition.jpg

    PJK

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  70. Amazing story. And very well written. I had to read every word from start to finish!

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  71. Very interesting story...one of my friends was reeled in a similar fashion by a thirtyish widower with a small daughter, who claimed to have been previously in the U.S. Marines and served in Afghanistan. Who knows what poor man's images were used. Couldn't meet up, couldn't skype, just texts and phone calls that went nowhere. Implement litmus tests - if they refuse to meet up within the month or won't skype with you in that same timeline, I'd refrain from getting further involved with them.

    Don't be surprised if "Sebastian" pops back up, pretending to be a victim of his/her own scam or providing a tip about the scammer's identity.

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  72. Interesting story. There are some real crazies out there.

    fyi. Looks to me like the guy at the front of the group photo (the large bloke) is the same as the guy in the perfume bottle reflection.

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  73. Have you tried running some of these photos through this to see who they are? http://images.google.com/imghp?hl=en

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  74. This has to be the creepiest thing I've read all year...I say you dodged a MASSIVE bullet and I actually feel sick to my stomach thinking about what this complete weirdo is capable of. Don't let this go, find this nutcase! x

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  75. Have you considered posting this blog link onto 4chan? There was a video on the internet of a blonde girl throwing puppies into a river and they managed to track down who she was without any obvious leads. You on the other hand, have alot of good information here, I bet they could track this sick motherfucker down for you.

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  76. I also think the guy at the football club resembles the reflection in the perfume bottle.

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  77. The text 'he' used in his dating profile is lifted from Guardian Soulmates profiles - I recognise a lot of it from the profile of a guy I had a date with who was who he said he was and not at all creepy.

    I think whoever is doing this has moved on to work his/her magic on POF. I had a run in with a man who it transpired had used photos from another GSM member and the top part of the 'about me' section you have pasted up there. He sent lots of messages, we swapped numbers and spoke on the phone (he did have an oddly high-pitched voice) but then the profile was taken down, the texts stopped and the number I'd been given just rang out.

    It is sad that people like this exist because it could put normal people off using online dating which although in my experience does throw up one or two nutters, is actually harmless and shouldn't be stimagitised.

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  78. I'd like to agree with the guy up there that you should try tracing the IP address. Since most dating sites won't want this sort of creep using their service, I'd assume they'd be pretty willing to help track him down. And the likelihood is that he'll have updated the profiles from a specific IP address. Even if it's not a home address and turns up an internet cafe or something, it could at least help to narrow down an area where he might be operating from?

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  79. Read this story on both the Daily Mail and the Guardian. Very chilling that it turned out to be a woman. When reading the two articles I felt sorry for "Amy Palmer" as it seems she was just an internet fantasist with possible mental health problems, i.e. aspergers, autism, borderline personality disorder or something like that.

    But after reading the full blog I no longer have sympathy. She is clearly very threatening and abusive and I think the police should've did more.

    Who's to say she's not still doing this to other women/men? Or possibly even teenagers? Yes she was exposed, but realistically all she needs to do is nab someone elses photos from Facebook or a dating site, and dream up another back story and the process will start all over again. She's clearly addicted to these "relationships".

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  80. Very interesting story but... I don't get it. What were you being 'groomed' for? Does Seb eventually ask his victims to send him money? I don't get this scam

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  81. You're so cool! I don't think I've research anything like this before. Thanks for your personal outstanding posting! I actually knowledgeable learning it, you will be an outstanding author. I will always preserve your web page and will often come coming back later on.

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  82. Hi, golly I just have to say this is horrifying, this post is old now so Im not sure whats happened but this is something the police should look into, especially if you feel he had been grooming you, by threatening you then trying to get you to stay with him, its a worry what his plan was , if you had agreed to use a taxi to visit, what was he planning, this is a very sinister plot he tried.
    the whole catfish fake profile thing is so dangerous, this person could be anyone he could even pretend to be a victim, and get in contact, or well allsorts, anyway on a more calmer note, I hope this experience hasent ruined your spirit, and I hope you had/have support from your family and friends. Good luck.

    ps . Honestly I found this from another site and wanted to find out if it was solved, so it seems word is spreading

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  83. So what happened? Did anyone find out who he is almost 4 years later?

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