Jail for ‘manipulative and dangerous' Sutton stalker who harassed and threatened young women

Casey Colton-Young was made the subject of a stalking prevention order in November 2024 after persistently harassing the first five women by using unpleasant, racist and threatening language, Jonathon Dee, prosecuting, told Nottingham Crown Court.

He threatened to stab one girl and told her she should be raped before sending a Google Earth image of her family home with the caption: "Nice house. How's the family?"

The order required Colton-Young, now aged 20, to inform police of all devices, social media accounts and any relationships he formed.

Despite the order and while on police bail, Colton-Young started a brief relationship with a young woman who was warned by a friend “he had a bad reputation amongst young women in the area.”

When she ended things and blocked him he began contacting her on social media with anonymous accounts, bombarding her with phone calls and falsely claimed he had an app on her phone which meant he could read her messages.

She moved town to attend university but he began posting images of himself at various locations in that town at night.

At the same time he was in a short relationship with another young women but soon accused her of lying to him and followed her movements on Snapchat before calling her names and making antisemitism comments and death threats.

One victim, who suffered regular panic attacks, said: “The only reason I feel safe is because he is in prison and can’t get to me. He put me off wanting to find a relationship until I realised he chose to act and behave like this.”

Another said he made her feel trapped, terrified to leave her own home and described him as a “very manipulative and dangerous person.”

Matt Hayes, mitigating, said Colton-Young, who has been diagnosed with autism, acknowledges the serious nature of his offending and appreciates the custodial threshold has been crossed.

He urged the judge to suspend the sentence and impose onerous requirements suggested by the probation service.

"To use his own words this period at HMP Nottingham has been a wake-up call,” Mr Hayes said. “He has indicated he never wants to return to custody again. He is motivated to work with the probation service.”

He said “excessive social media use” had a negative impact on his life and he has spent just over six months in custody.

Colton-Young, of Leyton Avenue, Sutton, eventually admitted five counts of breaching a stalking prevention order, stalking causing serious alarm or distress shortly before a trial, and he was found guilty of sending threats on April 20.

On Wednesday, Judge Steven Coupland ruled the defendant as “dangerous,” telling him he targeted young woman online and in person and when they tried to avoid him he became angry and abusive.

“Stalking is corrosive,” he said. “It leaves the people you target frightened and powerless. You are either unable, or unwilling, to accept responsibility for what you have done.”

Colton-Young received 38 months’ detention. A restraining order was imposed.