PULLING up the blinds, Kelly Crosskey closed her eyes as she felt the warmth of the sunlight flooding into her flat.
It had only been a week since she’d moved into her new place but already she felt right at home.
The block was mostly made up of council apartments but a few were privately rented and Kelly’s was one of those.
“I was 28 and it was the first flat I’d rented on my own and I couldn’t believe my luck,” Kelly, now 32, says.
“It was really quite beautiful.”
As Kelly prepared to go to work as a regional manager in recruitment, she bumped into her new neighbour Darren Cartwright, loitering in the communal hallway.
“I said good morning to him and he said it back,” she recalls.
“But walking past Darren I felt uneasy.
“He lived in the apartment directly below me and although he was friendly enough, he seemed a bit odd.
“I was pretty sure he didn’t work and I couldn’t think of any reason he’d be in the lobby at that time in the morning.
“But recently, I’d noticed that when I popped out, Darren would conveniently appear so I’d have to interact with him.”
Trying to be polite, Kelly, of Chichester, West Sussex, continued to be cordial with Cartwright.
“I got the impression that Darren had lived in the flat for a long time though and I didn’t want to get on the wrong side of my new neighbours,” she admits.
For the first six months, Kelly’s new home was everything she hoped it would be.
However, as time went on she found that things with Cartwirght became increasingly odd.
“I’d often find Darren busying himself in the hall outside his flat when I was coming or going,” Kelly says.
“But now, he began finding vague reasons to pop upstairs to mine.
“He found a small link to a bracelet or a necklace and came to my flat to ask if it was mine.
“It looked old and tattered, not like something that had been gleaming on the ground for Darren to rescue. Either way, it wasn’t mine.
“I told him it wasn’t mine and was relieved when I heard him padding back downstairs.
“The truth was, Darren gave me the creeps.”
Then a few days later, Cartwright knocked on the door once again, this time offering Kelly a houseplant he’d been growing.
“He told me he’d given one to everyone in the building so I thanked him and told him it was kind of him,” she says.
“I put the plant on the windowsill in the kitchen, it was a sweet gesture but I couldn’t shake the feeling that Darren was just fishing for any excuse to knock on my door.
“His haunting face and psycho eyes sent chills down my spine and I wished he’d just leave me in peace.
And to Kelly’s horror things began to escalate.
“He appeared at my door one day and asked me whether I wanted to be in a relationship completely out of the blue,” she says.
“I’d barely said two words to the man who was 14 years older than me and looked like a dishevelled down and out.”
But it didn’t put Cartwright off.
“He told me it would be an exclusive relationship so we couldn’t see anyone else, but it would be platonic so we wouldn’t have sex,” Kelly says.
“It was crazy. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, but Darren was deadly serious.
“I told him that it definitely wasn’t going to happen and closed the door but I had a horrible feeling this wasn’t going to be the end of it.”
And Kelly was right.
She claims that Cartwright started playing loud music downstairs and began crashing and banging around his flat.
Next, she says he began bombarding her with terrifying texts and messages on Facebook.
“He’d got my number from my next door neighbour who I’d swapped details with in case my alarm went off while I was away or at work,” she says.
“I was cross with him for giving out my details but Darren was intimidating and despite being an oddball he held a strange sway amongst the tenants.
“Darren told me I’d hurt his feelings and he wanted me to feel as bad as he did.
“It was unbelievable. Darren was behaving as if I’d jilted him after we’d been in an intense relationship and I’d had enough of the madness.”
Kelly decided to confront Cartwright.
“I’d tried being polite, it was time to change tack,” she says.
“I told him we could pretend it never happened and that we could be civil.”
But Kelly says that her pleas fell on deaf ears.
What to do if you are being stalked
By Emma Kenny, true crime physiologist
Whether the signals are subtle or glaring, trust your instincts. Keep records of suspicious incidents, inform people you trust, and don’t hesitate to reach out for professional and legal help if you believe you’re in danger.
Your safety is paramount, no one has the right to make you feel unsafe in your own life. Stalking is illegal.
If you think you are in danger or being stalked, report it to the police immediately – you have a right to feel safe in your home and workplace.
Call 999 if you or someone else is in immediate danger.
You can get advice from the National Stalking Helpline.
National Stalking Helpline
Telephone: 0808 802 0300
Monday to Friday, 9:30am to 4pm (except Wednesday 9:30am to 8pm) National Stalking Helpline
Find out about call charges
“Darren would appear in the hallway any time I left the flat and I knew he was monitoring my movements,” she says.
“He screamed and shouted abuse at me and when I swore I could smell him, I even worried that he’d gained access to my flat.
“It all got too much and I installed a Ring doorbell camera and I told Darren to ‘just f*** off’ the next time I saw him.”
On edge, Kelly reported Cartwight’s campaign of harassment to the police.
“I showed the policeman the sinister voicemails, texts and Facebook messages Darren had sent,” she says.
“But I worried he didn’t take me seriously and it didn’t seem like there was much the police could do.
“The officer told me that stalking cases were highly unusual between people who weren’t in a relationship.
“But Darren himself had told me he thought he suffered from schizophrenia and I worried he’d deluded himself that we were in some kind of relationship.
“I felt trapped, a prisoner in my own home.”
Three months after Cartwright’s unwanted attention began, Kelly received a notification from her Ring Doorbell telling her someone was at her door.
“Staring at the image from the doorbell camera, I noticed that the first time Darren appeared he was holding a drill,” Kelly recalls.
“He sniffed around a bit before going back downstairs. My heart hammered in my chest but my relief was short lived.
“Because moments later, Darren appeared at my door again. This time, he looked directly at my camera, scoping the place and plotting his next move.”
Terrified, Kelly called the police once again. Responders told her to stay on the phone while they sent round back up.
But a visit from the police didn’t stop Cartwright, who appeared a third time at Kelly’s door.
She says: “I’d never been so scared in my life.
“He was wearing what can only be described as a serial killer outfit, complete with Halloween mask and clutching a drill.
“Thankfully, the police showed up in numbers and stormed the hallway.
“Darren claimed he hadn’t done anything wrong as he was arrested.”
Two months later, Darren Cartwright appeared at Brighton Magistrates Court where he denied stalking involving serious alarm and distress and the case was adjourned for summary trial.
He was found guilty and remanded in Lewes Prison before he was slapped with a 10-year restraining order.
But while her stalker had been put away, the horror of the events had tainted Kelly’s dream home for her.
“I was so terrified, I moved out and built a mobile home,” she says.
“I want to be able to move around if I need to and I still suffer from nightmares.
“Darren was the neighbour from hell and I don’t think I’ll ever forget the day he arrived on my doorstep dressed like something from a horror movie.
“But I’m the star of my own life and I refuse to live in fear.
“I won’t let that masked madman beat me.”
