Chilling moment man wearing V for Vendetta mask ‘glues...

A STALKING victim fears for her life after her ex-boyfriend walked free from court despite orchestrating an aggressive campaign of terror for more than two years. Jess Adams and her new partner Jodie Harris have been forced to move house and are dismayed after obsessive Stuart Spires avoided jail. The ex-squaddie, 52, would park up outside their home in Dagenham, east London, for hours, as well as turn up at the care home where they both work after Jessica, 36, dumped him.

Image Credit: The Sun [Photo of Jess Adams and Jodie.]

He also smashed up her car, slashed the tyres and disabled the headlights before filling them with expanding foam which mechanics warned could’ve caused the car to explode. Jessica and Jodie say they put themselves at risk by confronting Spires - including in the middle of the night - to get video evidence after police allegedly refused to take action. Their doorbell camera also caught someone at their front door wearing a Guy Fawkes-style mask used in the film V for Vendetta - before the man put glue through the keyhole, they claim.

Image Credit: The Sun [Man holding vape, pointing at sign about street drinking.]

However, appearing at Barkingside Magistrates’ Court last Friday (February 7), Spires - who served in South America, Afghanistan and Iraq with the Royal Artillery - walked free after being handed an 18-month restraining order and community service. Jess told The Sun: “It’s appalling. There’s no justice in it, he’s had no impact on his life. The court hasn’t even set up any kind of safeguarding for us.”.

Image Credit: The Sun [Nighttime security camera footage of a person wearing a Guy Fawkes mask outside a door.]

Spires had denied two counts of stalking, but was but was convicted of both counts. He also admitted a count of criminal damage and one of possession of cannabis. Jess said: “Just because he’s got a conviction doesn’t mean we’ve been given justice.”. She said the ordeal started in late 2021 and was first reported to police that November, but quickly escalated and by the following spring Spires was seen outside the home she shares with Jodie, 32.

Image Credit: The Sun [Soldier holding a rifle with a poppy in the background.]

It’s appalling. There’s no justice in it, he’s had no impact on his life. The court hasn’t even set up any kind of safeguarding for us. Over the next couple of years, the issue worsened to the point they were scared to leave their home, with him often parked up on their cul-de-sac in the morning as they left to go to work. Jodie claims he shouted from the car “get ready for the storm” while she was coming out of a Co-op early in his campaign of abuse.

Image Credit: The Sun [Frozen diesel fuel in a car's fuel filler neck.]

But Jess said police kept saying “where’s the evidence?”. She said: “It’s hard to get evidence. He wore masks, it was so premeditated. "The fact that we put ourselves at risk just to get evidence, just so we could get it to court, and to get the conviction. “We guarantee something will happen again. We don’t know what to do, we’ve moved home but it’s only a matter of time before he figures out where we live.”.

Image Credit: The Sun [Silver car with smashed windows.]

In one video, sent to The Sun, Jodie chased a hooded Spires before confronting him as he got into his car, parked down an alley away from the flat. Jodie said: “I’m up like literally every hour of the night thinking what’s going to happen?. “Everything he’s done has got worse and worse. He’s going to be thinking I can do whatever I like. I’m just waiting for what happens next, then maybe it’ll be too late.”.

Image Credit: The Sun [Portrait of a man in a white shirt in front of an arched hallway with stained glass windows.]

She added: “We sent them so much - I had it in my head I needed to get his face on camera. We put ourselves at risk again and again. The system is completely broken.”. Jodie said she consulted with multiple mechanics after they spotted Spires tampering with their car in November 2023, and found he’d put expanding foam in their headlights - and was told the outcome could’ve been deadly. “They said if the car had been turned on it could have caused a fire because it was so hot,” said Jodie.

Image Credit: The Sun [Man in a hooded jacket attempting to break into a car at night.]

“I ran downstairs when I saw him, but if I hadn’t noticed him we would have got in the car the next morning and switched it on to go to work. “It could have been a totally different outcome.”. Jess added: “He’s so arrogant, he doesn’t care. He doesn’t care if he kills one of us.”. She said: “Every day now we check the car, it’s become a routine. We check no one’s around when we go to work and when we come back. We check the front door to see if anything’s been put through.

Image Credit: The Sun [Man in a beanie seen through a car window at night.]

“We’re constantly on edge.”. Jess and Jodie are campaigning for police to take reports of stalking and harassment more seriously. Jess said: “Something has got to change for the police to take it more seriously from the beginning. We’ve been going through this since 2022 and only just got a conviction. “Fortunately, we haven’t been physically injured but we have been mentally terrorised. For anybody else, they might not be so lucky.”.