A woman who was relentlessly stalked by her ex-partner has described being so terrified that she had to change her locks and be chaperoned to and from her front door for months. Curtis Pring’s chilling methods included pretending to be multiple people via messages, visiting her street, sending her letters and revealing that he knew her location. The compulsive liar also defrauded the victim out of more than £5,000 after pretending he would carry out building work at her house during their relationship that he never fulfilled.
Love Bombing and Deception
The woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, said Pring’s fixation on her became clear when their 18-month relationship ended in 2024. The pair had met in late 2022, when Pring made efforts to present himself as an “amazing person”. “In hindsight at the beginning he love-bombed me,” the woman said. “He bought me lots of gifts and paid for a holiday to Spain.” She said looking back it is clear to her that Pring “sought” her out, knowing that she was emotionally vulnerable at the time but financially stable.
“I had been going through a difficult time in my personal life and felt vulnerable; I was also in a good financial position - I have a good job and I was in a position to buy my own house,” she said. The woman explained that she was renting at the time, and that Pring moved in with her quickly, having told her that an issue cropped up with his own home.
Building Work Fraud
In 2023 the woman bought her own house and moved into the property in July that year. She said that Pring told her he was a builder and pointed out issues with the property that he, or people he knew, could fix. “He said he had contacts with people who could do it for a good price,” she said. “The first thing was that the flooring was really bad, so he’d sorted through a friend the flooring and a sofa, and he came through with that. He laid the flooring for me and I paid him for all of it. In hindsight I think he completed that to gain my trust.”
Next the woman said Pring dug up her front and back garden, promising that he would fix an issue with her home’s water pressure. “He was doctoring receipts and emails from places,” she said. “I am not a thick person and it was still so believable. Because he wasn’t paying money to stay with me it was agreed that he would do the work for nothing, and I had given him the money for the materials. As time went on the materials never arrived.”
Stalking Escalates After Breakup
By June 2024 the woman said she had called Pring out for lying due to the materials not appearing, which resulted in arguments. This led to the couple separating and Pring moving out of the home. From that point Pring began bombarding the victim with messages despite her repeatedly telling him to leave her alone. “I said: ‘I don’t even care about the materials anymore, I just want you out of my life. Leave me alone’,” she recalled. “I blocked him on everything and he started creating new emails. He made fake accounts and at one point he created a profile pretending to be a relationship counsellor.”
The woman said this behaviour continued and included Pring creating more email addresses and pretending that people were saying bad things about her. “He was screenshotting messages between himself and this supposed other person saying horrible things about me and my past which were not true. I also had messages from a cakes and bakery account on Facebook saying ‘I know Curtis and he’s a good person, and people are out to get him’.”
Physical Presence and Harassment
At the beginning of July 2024 the woman said she reported Pring’s actions to the police, which resulted in him becoming increasingly “nasty”. During this period the defendant sent the victim a four-page letter and 26 emails in which he went from begging for her back to destroying her character. “He created more email addresses and sent me messages saying people were saying bad things about me to him,” she said. “I am convinced that he had a few different numbers and he was texting himself and making me think they were saying horrible things. His messages were to make me feel paranoid, like there were more people involved than just him. Every time my phone went I felt terrified.”
It was around this time that the woman said she became aware that Pring had visited her street. “During this time as well he was physically in my street,” she said. “One week I came home and every day when he knew I would be coming home he would be on the corner of my street. My neighbours told me he was constantly in my street. I felt like he was following me.” She described another chilling occasion in July 2024 when Pring told her he knew she had met up with someone else. “I then went out with a male former colleague for a drink and to his house for food. I then had emails from Curtis to say: ‘I know you’ve been out with a guy’. He was trying to say that someone told him this, but the only way he would have known this was if he had followed me. Another issue was he was bombarding me with no caller ID calls as soon as I left the house.”
Impact on Victim's Life
Describing the impact on her life, the woman said: “I was going to the doctors, I was prescribed sleeping tablets, diazepam. I had a few days off sick from work, which I didn’t get paid for, so that was more money that I lost. I was having friends and family staying with me and I stayed with my mum a couple of times. When I saw him in my street I was getting my step dad - who lives a distance away - to meet me outside my house and come inside with me. I had had my locks changed already but I just didn’t feel safe in my own house.”
The woman said she contacted the police again around this point, and that swift action was taken leading to Pring being charged. Pring, of Maes Y Rhedyn, later pleaded guilty to fraud by abuse of position and stalking. On July 7, 2026, Pring was sentenced at Cardiff Crown Court to 15 months in prison suspended for 18 months. It was heard how he has moved on into a new relationship and continues working in construction.
Victim Disappointed with Sentence
The victim expressed her disappointment at the sentence, adding: “I was hoping for an immediate sentence.” While Pring has been allowed to continue his life in the community, the victim said she has been left in a permanent state of anxiety. “I’ve literally been so anxious for the last two years because I’ve had this hanging over my head…I’m constantly expecting something bad to happen. Everywhere I go, even now, when I drive into my street [or] if I see someone who looks like him I start to feel a panic. I feel constantly on edge.”
She said speaking out about Pring provides her with some sense of justice. “What I feel is justice is that women like me that he might target in the future, are aware. He’s much less likely to do that if this information is out there.”
