A person who stalked Strictly Come Dancing choose Shirley Ballas for six years has prevented jail.
Kyle Shaw, 37, acquired a 20-month suspended sentence and a lifetime restraining order on contacting Ballas, her mom, niece, and former accomplice.
Liverpool Crown Courtroom heard that he thought Ballas was his aunt and “began a persistent campaign of contact”.
“He believed, and it’s evident from what he was told by his mother, that her late brother was his father,” stated prosecutor Nicola Daley.
The court docket heard there was no proof he was improper, and “limited evidence” he was appropriate.
Ms Daley stated Shaw’s messages had accused Ballas of being guilty for the demise of her brother, who took his personal life in 2003 aged 44.
He additionally arrange social media accounts in his identify.
Shaw had pleaded responsible to stalking the previous dancer between August 2017 and November 2023 at a listening to in February.
Incidents included following Ballas’s 86-year-old mom, Audrey Wealthy, whereas she was buying and telling her she was his grandmother.
The court docket heard in messages to Mrs Wealthy, Shaw had requested: “Where’s my dad?”
Ballas was so fearful for her mom’s security that she moved her from Merseyside to London.
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Kyle Shaw outdoors court docket on the day of his sentencing. Pic: PA
In October 2020, Ballas known as police after Shaw messaged her and stated: “Do you want me to kill myself, Shirley?”
Posts on X included one alongside a picture of her residence handle that warned: “You ruined my life, I’ll ruin yours and everyone’s around you.”
One other referenced a ebook signing and stated: “I can’t wait to meet you for the first time Aunty Shirley. Hopefully I can get an autograph.”
The court docket was advised Ballas’s niece Mary Assall, former accomplice Daniel Taylor and colleagues from Strictly Come Dancing and ITV’s Unfastened Ladies had been additionally despatched messages.
‘I do know the place you reside’
On one event in late 2023, Shaw known as Mr Taylor and advised him he knew the place the couple lived and described Ballas’s actions.
The court docket heard the 64-year-old TV star turn out to be cautious of socialising and stopped utilizing public transport.
Prosecutor Ms Daley stated: “She described having sleepless nights worrying about herself and her family’s safety and being particularly distressed when suggestions were made to her that she and her mother were responsible for her brother taking his own life.”
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Ballas has been head choose on Strictly Come Dancing since 2017. Pic: PA
Shaw cried and wiped away tears as he was sentenced on Tuesday.
The choose stated the stalking stemmed from his mom telling him Ballas’s brother, David Wealthy, was his organic father.
“I’m satisfied that your motive for this offending was a desire to seek contact with people you genuinely believed were your family,” he stated.
“Whether in fact there’s any truth in that belief is difficult, if not impossible, to determine.”
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Shaw pictured at court docket in February. Pic: PA
Defence lawyer John Weate stated Shaw had been advised the story by his mom “in his mid to late teens” and had suffered “complex mental health issues” since he was a baby.
He added: “He now accepts that Miss Ballas and her family don’t wish to have any contact with him and, importantly, he volunteered the information that he has no intention of contacting them again.”
Shaw, of Whetstone Lane in Birkenhead, additionally admitted possessing hashish and was ordered to undertake a rehab programme.
