Besotted pupil told driving instructor '˜you can hurt me' as she tried to woo him

Donna Hartley, 28, bombarded him with texts, phone messages and letters after he helped her pass her test in just six weeks.

But her campaign to woo him, who was left suffering from anxiety after the ordeal, has left her with a hefty court bill and a suspended jail spell.

The air conditioning company supervisor even turned up several times late at night at his Cleveleys home.

Hartley kept asking for meetings saying she wanted to hug him.

One message stated: “I don’t want to hurt you but you can hurt me. I won’t tell anyone.”

Hartley, of Queens Promenade, Blackpool, admitted stalking when she appeared before the resort’s magistrates.

She was ordered to pay her victim £1,000 compensation and £200 in court costs.

She was also given an eight weeks jail term suspended for 18 months and must do 20 days rehabilitation.

Pam Smith, prosecuting, said besotted Hartley used her own phone for a time but her victim blocked her number.

She then began to withhold her number or use other phones.

The stalking carried on even after he contacted police.

She sent him one message which said: “Follow the music” and when he looked outside his home he saw her in a silver Nissan with the radio playing.

In her police interview, Hartley said she said she felt her instructor had started to ignore her and she was worried about this.

The instructor’s victim’s impact statement was read to the court.

He said he now suffered anxiety and every time he left the house he felt Hartley would be there.

He had even had to change his teaching style because he feared becoming friendly with students.

“I have never experienced anything like this before,” he said.

Mitch Serangi, defending, said: “She has completely misread the signals. It screams out to you that she has had little experience of relationships. She now realises he does not wish to be a part of her life.”

Chairman of the Bench David Hearton told Hartley: “What you did was persistent and calculating. It was planned. It was extremely manipulative behaviour.”