Paedophile who stalked DJ Sara Cox jailed after pleading guilty
A 50-year-old man who stalked BBC Radio 2 DJ Sara Cox has been jailed for 16 months after he pleaded guilty to harassing the star as well as possessing multiple indecent images of children.
Anthony Collins sent Sara, 42, handwritten letters, where he told her that he was lonely, his friends were dead, his brother had drowned in a river, and that he suffered from bipolar disorder.
Collins was arrested in February of this year and when police raided his home they found images of children as young as four being sexually abused in his bedside table.
They also found magazines full of images of young girls, with prosecutor Mary Jacobson saying in court that Collins has a long history of harassing young girls and breaching restraining orders.
She said: “He says he has a strong interest in girls over the age of nine and fantasises about having sex with them.
“He said he would like help as he always has these thoughts and he knows it is wrong.”
Collins pleaded guilty to one charge of harassment, two of making indecent images of children and two of possessing indecent images of children.
Speaking about Collins’ harassment of Sara, Ms. Jacobson added: “The victim is a radio broadcaster in national radio, she is a well known public figure.
“Out of the blue on the 24 June [2016] she received an envelope in the post which was addressed in capital letters in felt tip. She recognised the wording from a letter she had received at work the previous year.
“She was extremely concerned and informed her work place. That envelope contained two letters in capital letters in different coloured felt tip pen, they told her about himself and his feelings for her.”
One letter said: “I apologise for writing to your home address. I got it for £17 [from] the internet.”
Sara was left even more concerned in February of this year when her husband, Ben Cyzer, received an envelope at his work address, which contained a cancer diagram.
She and her husband reported the incident to the police the next day and Collins was arrested three days later, with police finding a Google Map print out showing directions to Sara’s sister’s house in his home.
Maidstone Crown Court Judge Joy imposed a sexual harm prevention order on Collins and also issued a restraining order that bans him from contacting Sara and her immediate family.
The judge said at the time: “You wanted to be a deviant, quite plainly you have a preference for girls who are very young and doctors have come to the conclusion that there is no evidence that you have an acute mental illness, that you do manifest a personality disorder.
“It is quite clear you have an obsessive personality.”
Sara has not commented on Collins’ 16-month sentence.
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