Serial stalker Michael Sellers fatally stabbed Gracie Spinks when she was just 23 years old – after Derbyshire police missed multiple opportunities to stop him.
Stalking: State of Fear on ITV explores how police could have saved Gracie’s life. If only police hadn’t failed to take her claims about her work colleague’s behaviour seriously.
In the new factual film, viewers get “intimate access” to the family of Gracie Spinks, and other victims of stalking. Here’s everything you need to know about the tragic case of Gracie Spinks, if the police have apologised, and what Stalking: State of Fear is about.
Stalking: State Of Fear on ITV
ITV’s new documentary speaks to the victims of stalkers about how being targeted has destroyed their lives. It also introduces us to the women under threat who are taking on the criminal justice system to hold the culprits to account.
Part of ITV’s BAFTA-winning Exposure current affairs strand, the factual film features exclusive access to stalking victims. Viewers also meet with the family of stalking victim Gracie Spinks. Her stalker Michael Sellers killed her in 2021.
Viewers hear real life 999 calls and police interview footage. Shockingly, only five per cent of stalking reports lead to a conviction. In one case, a stalker has the nerve to report his victim to the police for stalking! In laughable scenes, the police then interview the victim under caution. You’d be forgiven for mistaking it for a scene from Netflix’s hit show Baby Reindeer.
Another victim, a doctor named Marie, lost her hair through stress during her stalking ordeal. She now wants to change the law, which she describes as “not fit for purpose”. In yet another shocking scene, we hear how officers gave out a victim’s home address and personal details to her stalker. The documentary makers ask if the justice system is prepared to make major changes to take stalking more seriously.
On average, two women are murdered each week in England and Wales. Research suggests stalking features in 94 per cent of the cases.
What happened to Gracie Spinks?
Delusional work colleague Michael Sellers killed horse lover Gracie Spinks in 2021. She had reported the stalker to the police about his behaviour, however the police deemed him low-risk. Tragically, that wasn’t the case. Michael was, in fact, a “historic serial stalker” who had terrorised women before.
On the morning of June 18, 2021, Gracie went to tend to her horse, Paddy, at Blue Lodge Farm. Michael Sellers was waiting for her. He attacked her, stabbing her 10 times, before killing himself a short distance away.
The 35-year-old killer met Gracie, 23, through work and became “obsessed with her”. He had previously harassed at least eight other women.
Gracie reported his behaviour to the police four months before her murder in June 2021. Officers cautioned him, but did not investigate further. They categorised him as “low risk”.
The documentary reveals how a dog walker in Duckmanton, Derbyshire, found a bag containing weapons. The lady found multiple knives, an axe, and a hammer. There was also a sinister handwritten note. It simple said: “Don’t lie!”
The police failed to investigate the bag of weapons found near the field, labelling it as lost property. Michael subsequently killed Gracie in the same spot six weeks later, as she tended to her horse.
Who was Michael Sellers?
Sheffield-born Michael Sellers met Gracie when she was working a temporary job at a local e-commerce company, Xbite. He was her supervisor. Gracie dreamt of being a swimming instructor, but was furloughed during Covid.
Michael Sellers became “obsessed” with 23-year-old Gracie Spinks after she told him she did not want a relationship with him. After she found him waiting for her at the field where she kept her horse, she made a complaint about him.
Gracie reported Michael to her employer, who subsequently dismissed him for gross misconduct. An internal investigation at Derbyshire e-commerce firm Xbite, where they worked together, found he had behaved inappropriately towards eight other women.
In a statement read out at Chesterfield Coroner’s Court during the inquest, Sellers’ dad Stephen said his son “just shut down and really went downhill” after losing his job at Xbite.
He added in a statement read out in court: “After Xbite, Michael’s personality changed. He was fragile, very quiet and withdrawn, seemingly having lost his way in life.”
Michael lived with his family, and “did not appear to have any close friends and he had never had a girlfriend”.
Police response to Gracie Spinks’ stalker was ‘diabolical’
The parents of Gracie Spinks have said the police response to their daughter’s stalking case was “diabolical”. In November 2023, they called for a national change and more funding for stalking advocates in forces to protect future victims.
An inquest jury concluded on Thursday, November 16, 2023 that Gracie was unlawfully killed by a man she had reported for stalking.
Gracie’s father Richard Spinks said: “It has been upsetting and emotionally draining. It has been a catalogue of errors on the police’s part. I think Derbyshire police have let Gracie down big time. It seems like they weren’t bothered, they didn’t want to investigate. They completely failed to join the dots.”
Gracie’s mother, Alison Ward, added: “We thought she would be safeguarded; that things would be put in place, that she would be safe. But that’s not been the case at all. It’s basic policing where they’ve failed.
“The inquest has shown us that victims of stalking don’t actually always realise the level of risk they are exposed to. The police completely failed.”
Gracie Spinks’ mother makes emotional statement about stalker
In an emotional statement read during the inquest, Alison Ward described the tragic aftermath of Gracie’s death.
She said: “Gracie was the life, soul and energy of the house. She would always be singing, playing music and having fun with us all. We would very often have karaoke nights in our living room. Now we have silence, the heart of our family has been ripped out.”
The family has left Gracie’s room exactly as it was on the day she died.
Have Derbyshire police apologised?
Derbyshire police admitted a number of failings in the handling of Gracie Spinks’ case.
Reading a statement outside court on behalf of Derbyshire police, Det Supt Darren De’ath said: “Put simply, as a force we failed Gracie, and for that, I can only offer my own and the force’s most sincere apologies.
“We have now heard the conclusion of the jury and we accept this fully. We await any further recommendations that may come from the coroner and will review these in due course.”
He said that in response to Gracie’s death the force had made “significant changes to the ways in which we receive and investigate stalking reports, as well as how we support and safeguard victims of these crimes”.
He added: “However, none of this seeks to minimise the failings that we have seen in this case. And the force fully accepts the failures that were part of this most tragic set of circumstances.”
Read more: This Morning star Sian Welby has been victim of ‘weirdo’ stalker for past decade
Stalking: State of Fear airs on ITV1 at 9pm on Tuesday, April 30, 2024.
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