Restraining order imposed on South Shields stalker who hounded woman on TikTok

A South Tyneside stalker who hounded a former work colleague to the point she installed a camera outside her home has been handed a suspended prison term.

Persistent pest Daniel Dyer, 26, made her fear for her safety so much she also changed her work routine and only left her city centre office when in company.

Dyer, of Embleton Avenue, Horsley Hill, South Shields, even self-harmed, telling her in a TikTok message he did so because he was in pain from not being with her.

They briefly worked together at a company in Grey Street, Newcastle, and soon after he left, he contacted her on the social media app, borough magistrates heard.

Prosecutor John Garside said Dyer did not initially disclose who he was in unwanted messages sent between May 14 and July 17 last year.

In a separate incident on Monday, March 2 this year, police found him in possession of a kitchen knife at Newcastle’s Haymarket bus station.

Borough magistrates, who heard he was suffering from poor mental health, jailed him for a total of 12 weeks, suspended for 15 months.

Mr Garside said: “From the beginning of 2025 she worked with the defendant. She never spoke to him about her personal life and didn’t consider him a friend.

“March last year was the last time that she saw him. She found out that his employment had ended. There had been mental health deterioration – he had cuts on his arms.

“On May 14 there was a message from an unknown user on TikTok, with the name displaying as ‘Dan’.

“It said, ‘I want to see you’. The messages continued for a couple of days, and then she blocked him.

“In July, she began getting comments on TikTok from a name she didn’t recognise.

“On July 10, one said, ‘You are perfect. The times you saw me with cuts on my arms, I did that because of you.

‘I started to harm myself because I was in so much pain from not being with you’. She told him to stop.

“He said that he used to work with her at the call centre. On July 14, he attended her workplace but was told to leave.”

Dyer, who has no previous convictions, pleaded guilty to charges of possession of a bladed article and stalking involving serious alarm or distress.

Rebecca Stephenson, defending, said: “It is clear Mr Dyer has suffered in the past from episodes of mental health.

“These incidents were totally out of character. For the bladed article, he released it when approached by police.

“There was no intention to harm others or cause fear of alarm. The stalking was also clearly out of character. He expresses remorse.

“It was at a time when his mental health was greatly suffering, and his thinking was not as it should have been.”

Magistrates jailed Dyer for eight weeks for the bladed article offence and four consecutive weeks for stalking, both suspended.

They also imposed a two-year restraining order, preventing him from contacting the woman or referring to her on social media.

He must also not attend anywhere he believes her to reside, or enter Grey Street. He must pay a £154 victim surcharge and £85 court costs.