BBC, TNT Sports and CBS presenter Natalie Pike has revealed the full extent of an eight-month stalking ordeal after the man who targeted her was sentenced. Pike, a prominent Manchester City presenter, shared a statement on Instagram after the man pleaded guilty to stalking involving serious alarm or distress.
She said the court imposed a suspended custodial sentence, alongside other requirements and a restraining order preventing him from contacting her directly or indirectly.
Nightmare begins at the hairdresser
The 43-year-old told The Telegraph how her nightmare began when two men arrived at her hairdresser's, which was on the same road as her son's school, in a van and told staff they knew Pike was a customer before demanding to know where she lived. Her hairdresser alerted both Pike and the school attended by her young son.
Pike then searched through previously hidden Instagram messages and discovered a series of messages from a man over an 18-month period. “They began in the usual way: ‘Happy birthday’, ‘You’re beautiful’, that kind of thing. Then they started deteriorating.” She sent a screenshot of the account to her hairdresser, who confirmed it was the same man she had seen.
Terrifying encounter at the Etihad
Eight days later, in a terrifying moment, Pike recognised the same man just yards away from her while presenting pitchside during Manchester City's 2-1 win over Newcastle at the Etihad Stadium. “I just had a sense that something wasn’t right,” she said. “So I looked over my shoulder, and I instantly saw him – the man from the picture.”
Pike alerted police and later watched CCTV footage showing the man moving through the stadium towards her. “I ran up to the public address announcer’s room, and I had my first experience of a panic attack,” she said. “I stood in a corner, burst out crying, and I just couldn’t catch my breath.”
Impact and sentencing
Police arrested the man the following morning, while Pike subsequently secured a stalking protection order preventing him from visiting her village, approaching her friends or relatives, or attending the Etihad. Manchester City also banned him from the stadium. The experience had a profound impact on Pike, who had regarded the Etihad as a place of safety.
Pike also revealed that the stalking came during an extremely difficult period for her family, with her cancer-stricken mother becoming seriously unwell after Pike told her about what had happened. She said she had initially struggled to accept what was happening and had not planned to speak publicly about the ordeal. “In my head, I was minimising this as a way of trying to protect myself,” Pike said. “But we shouldn’t minimise these things. You have to make sure that people know this behaviour isn’t OK.”
The man was sentenced at the end of September, with Pike choosing to deliver her victim impact statement directly to him rather than using a screen. She said the sentencing finally gave her a sense that she could move forward. “I did that as a means of taking back power in that situation,” she said. “I thought, ‘I don’t need to hide. I’ve got nothing to hide about’.”
In her Instagram statement, Pike said: “I hope this marks the end of one of the hardest periods of my life and allows me to finally close this chapter and move forward.” Anyone needing help and advice around the issue of stalking can contact the National Stalking Helpline on 0808 802 0300.
