Newcastle 'fantasist' pretended he worked for MI5 to stop girlfriend from leaving

A "fantasist" pretended he was an undercover cop and worked for the secret service to try and stop his girlfriend from leaving him, a court has heard.

Ryan Greaves believed his job as a Newcastle street ranger was not enough to impress his partner so created an elaborate fictitious life for himself, pretending he had a half-sister who died in the line of duty leaving behind an anti-terrorism hard drive that he needed to locate.

Newcastle Crown Court heard the woman was living in fear after believing the stories she was told, something which was heightened when Greaves produced realistic-looking weapons and ammunition.

The 26-year-old has now been given a suspended prison sentence for engaging in controlling or coercive behaviour.

The court heard the couple had initially met through car clubs and entered a relationship in June 2021 before they went on to have a child together.

However, the court heard the complainant tried to end the relationship on multiple occasions, leading to Greaves' claim he had a specialist role in the police.

Prosecutor Neil Jones said: "She knew him to be a NE1 street ranger. He said he was working undercover and had a half-sister who had died in the line of duty during a police operation and that she worked in anti-terrorism. He said the half-sister, Chloe, had a hidden hard drive which he needed to retrieve."

Manipulative messages then began from a variety of characters created by Greaves, the court heard. The victim got emails purportedly from a woman working for the police, saying "tick tock, the time is ticking", supposedly a reference to the hard drive.

Further fictitious emails were sent from someone claiming to be a government security contractor, an MI5 agent looking into her banking information and an operational fire commander.

Mr Jones said: "The theme was once she separated from the defendant these people were urging her to try to give him a second chance. She thought all of these people were real. In fact, they were fictitious."

The court heard that while Greaves never inflicted physical injury, he did emotionally abuse her.

In October last year, Greaves showed her a gun and bullets at her home. He told her the weapon, which looked real but later turned out to be fake, was "attributable to Chloe" and that she had given it to him.

In a victim impact statement, the woman, from Wallsend, said the offending had significantly impacted her mental health, making her suicidal and unable to leave the house for a time due to fear.

She added: "The past 15 months have completely changed who I am as a person. I felt so isolated and alone. I became seriously unwell. I was not eating, sleeping or going out anymore. I was made to feel like I was crazy if I ever questioned a scenario we were in. I believed all the characters and felt I was living in some horrible world.

Greaves, 26, of Pilgrim Street, Newcastle, pleaded guilty to engaging in controlling and coercive behaviour and was sentenced to 12 months in prison, suspended for 18 months.

He must also do a "building better relationships" programme, complete a mental health treatment requirement and was made subject to a restraining order.

Matthew Purves, defending, said matters had snowballed out of control to the point he could not stop it but added: "Hurting the complainant was an unintended consequence."

He added Greaves is remorseful and said: "He felt he was not worthy of any relationship, let alone with this lady and he embarked on behaviour to try to show there was something interesting about him."

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