Aaron Casey: 'Manipulative' Sheffield man shared nude picture during persistent stalking campaign

A ‘dangerous’ Sheffield man subjected a woman to a persistent stalking campaign, during which he repeatedly made unwanted visits to her home, attempted to stab her, called her hundreds of times and shared a nude picture of her on Snapchat. 

Sheffield Crown Court heard how during the course of the month-long ordeal, defendant, Aaron Casey, aged 30, also threatened to burn the woman’s house down, damaged her property and attempted to manipulate her using threats of self-harm. 

In a statement read to the court, the woman targeted by Casey revealed how he had left her feeling so terrified that she had often been unable to sleep, and instead stayed up through the night monitoring her home CCTV in fear he may unexpectedly turn up at her home. 

She continued: “If he wasn’t on remand I think there would be a genuine risk to life, and I would have to keep looking over my shoulder.”

The judge, Recorder Mark Giuliani, told Casey during a sentencing hearing held on June 11, 2024: “This was conduct designed to maximise fear and distress.”

He also told the court that prior to the offending period, Casey, of Brightmore Drive, Netherthorpe, Sheffield, subjected the complainant with what ‘emotional manipulation’. 

The judge continued: “You started saying you could hear voices, that it’s karma for the past, and that you can not lead a good life.

“You threatened to take your own life, threatened to jump off a bridge. The complainant felt sorry for you, and tried to speak to you.

“You tried to hang yourself and she went with you to A&E and you had to be treated…you then sent pictures of yourself self-harming. She blocked you, and you then kept turning up at her address.”

Turning to the period covered by the dates of the stalking offence Casey was subsequently charged with, Recorder Giuliani told the court that on one of the days, Casey called the complainant 261 times from a withheld number. On another occasion, he called her 129 times, and 64 times on another occasion.

Casey then proceeded to send the complainant a picture of himself self-harming, which purported to show blood, but was in fact, ketchup, the court heard.  

Recorder Giuliani described how Casey ramped up his stalking one step further when he posted a naked picture of the complainant to Snapchat, and even went so far as to tag her in it. 

Prosecutor, Rosemary Kavanagh, told the court that the complainant was informed of the offensive post by a friend, and she unblocked him on the platform to ask him what he was doing. 

“You replied saying: ‘I’m going to ruin you, watch. I’m going to burn your car and van, so sleep well’.”

“It was clear from her face that the person in the indecent photo was her. You clearly sent that to cause maximum upset to her,” Recorder Giuliani told Casey.  

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The court was told that Casey also posted the same naked picture to Snapchat later on in the stalking campaign

Casey made numerous unwanted visits to the complainants home, and on many occasions attempted to damage her Ring doorbell, even going so far as to punch it, the court heard. 

Ms Kavanagh told the court that during one such visit, CCTV showed Casey arriving at her property at 3.45am, and after punching the Ring doorbell, he sent her a message claiming to be someone else. Casey subsequently rang her 20 times, and was seen slashing her tyres on CCTV.

During another call made at just after 6am on the same day, Casey told the complainant: “I’m setting your house on fire next,” Ms Kavanagh said. 

In another unwanted visit, Casey told the complainant that she was the only one who ‘understood’ him, before attempting to stab her in the thigh with a stanley knife. 

The court was told that Casey did not break the skin, due to the blade only being partially out, and subsequently proceeded to injure himself with the knife before continuing to make threats of self-harm. 

On a different occasion, the complainant’s home CCTV cameras alerted her to the fact Casey had managed to enter her home, during which he left a pair of headphones behind, and Recorder Giuliani said it was clear Casey had intentionally placed them there in order to give him an excuse to return. 

Casey was subsequently charged with, and pleaded guilty to, offences of stalking involving fear of violence and disclosing private sexual photographs with intent to cause distress at an earlier hearing. 

Ms Kavanagh told the court that Casey’s criminal record consists of 20 offences from 14 previous convictions, including an entry for grievous bodily harm and possession of an imitation firearm, with intent to cause fear of violence, relating to a street attack in which three men were injured. Casey was recalled to prison for another set of offending, after being reported for these matters, the court heard. 

Defending, Benedict Sayers said Casey ‘expresses regret towards the complainant’ and has shown some insight into why he threatened to harm himself, and has ‘since been medicated for anxiety’. 

“It seems he’s much more clear-headed now, than he was at the time of these offences,” continued Mr Sayers. 

He told the court that Casey has been using his time in custody productively, and has obtained a role in the prison kitchen, and has been entrusted to become involved in a scheme aimed at violence reduction on the wing. 

Recorder Giuliani jailed Casey for 32 months, and also made him the subject of an extended licence period of 32 months - bringing his total sentence to 64 months - after judging him to meet the statutory criteria for a dangerous offender. 

“You are considered to be at a high risk of causing serious harm to male members of the public, to future partners, to children,” Recorder Giuliani told Casey, adding: “It’s necessary to impose an extended sentence to protect members of the public in the future.  

Recorder Giuliani also granted a restraining order, prohibiting Casey from contacting the complainant for a period of 15 years.