Man sentenced for stalking Strictly judge Shirley Ballas

By Eleanor Barlow, PA

A man who believed Strictly Come Dancing judge Shirley Ballas was his aunt has been given a suspended sentence for stalking her.

Kyle Shaw, 37, embarked on a “persistent campaign of contact” sending messages and threats to the dancer and her friends and colleagues because he believed her late brother, David Rich, was his father, Liverpool Crown Court heard on Tuesday.

Shaw was given a 20-month prison sentence, suspended for 20 months, after he pleaded guilty at a hearing in February to stalking Ballas, 64, causing serious harm or distress, between August 31st, 2017 and November 29th, 2023.

He was made the subject of a restraining order for life which prevented him contacting Ballas as well as her niece, mother and former partner.

Nicola Daley, prosecuting, said: “He believed, and it’s evident from what he was told by his mother, that her late brother was his father.”

The court heard there was no evidence that his belief was incorrect, but there was “limited evidence” it was correct.

Ms Daley said in messages Shaw accused Ballas of being responsible for the death of her brother, who took his own life in 2003 at the age of 44.

He also set up social media accounts in her brother’s name.

He approached Ballas’s mother, 86-year-old Audrey Rich, when shopping in Wirral in 2019, the court heard, leading Ballas to move her mother from Merseyside to London.

 

The court heard he told Ms Rich she was his grandmother and continued to follow her around the shop when she did not want to speak to him.

The court heard in messages to Mrs Rich, Shaw asked: “Where’s my dad?”

Shaw, wearing a white shirt and tie with a black coat, wiped away tears at times during the hearing and sobbed in the dock when Judge Gary Woodhall delivered the sentence.

The court was told in October 2020 Ballas contacted police after he messaged her and said: “Do you want me to kill myself, Shirley?”

The court heard Shaw posted messages on Twitter which included an image of the TV star’s home address along with a message which said: “You ruined my life, I’ll ruin yours and everyone’s around you.”

The judge said: “This was a menacing threat against her and her family.”

 

Ms Daley said Ballas became reluctant to socialise with colleagues and stopped using public transport.

She said: “She described having sleepless nights worrying about herself and her family’s safety and being particularly distressed when suggestions were made to her that she and her mother were responsible for her brother taking his own life.”

Shaw also sent messages to her niece Mary Assall, former partner Daniel Taylor and to work colleagues from Loose Women and Strictly Come Dancing, the court heard.

The court heard when Ballas had book signings planned in Wirral, Shaw messaged her saying: “I can’t wait to meet you for the first time Aunty Shirley. Hopefully I can get an autograph.”

He called her partner in November 2023 and in an “implied threat” told him he knew where they lived and described what he knew about the TV star’s movements.

Ms Daley said when police recovered his phone they found in 2022 and 2023 he had contacted or attempted to contact colleagues from Loose Women and Strictly Come Dancing through social media indicating that Ballas was not answering him and making derogatory comments about her and her family.

When arrested in December 2023, Shaw told officers: “If she’d have answered nothing like this would have happened.”

Sentencing Shaw, the judge said: “Since 2017 you have engaged in persistent, unwanted online contact with Shirley Ballas and her family. You did so because your mother told you Shirley Ballas’s late brother was your biological father.

“I’m satisfied that your motive for this offending was a desire to seek contact with people you genuinely believed were your family.

“Whether in fact there’s any truth in that belief is difficult, if not impossible, to determine.”

He added: “This was not an offence driven out of delusional beliefs, physical attraction or simply an obsession with a celebrity.”

John Weate, defending, said Shaw had suffered complex mental health issues since childhood and in his mid to late teens was told by his mother that David Rich was his father.

He said: “He now accepts that Miss Ballas and her family don’t wish to have any contact with him and, importantly, he volunteered the information that he has no intention of contacting them again.”

He said Shaw’s use of cannabis had “not helped him”.

Shaw, of Whetstone Lane in Birkenhead, Wirral, also admitted possession of cannabis.

He was ordered to carry out 20 days of rehabilitation activity and undertake a 12-month drug rehabilitation requirement.

Senior Crown Prosecutor Natassia McAdam said: “Kyle Shaw’s attempts to contact Ms Ballas were clearly stalking.

“They were persistent and became abusive and caused anxiety and distress over a prolonged period of time.

“His behaviour became increasingly erratic, and she feared he would become violent. He knew what he was doing would cause her alarm and distress.”