Stalker Threatened to Kidnap and Dismember 13-Year-Old Girl in Wirral
A disturbed stalker subjected a 13-year-old girl in Wirral to a horrifying six-month campaign of threats, including vows to kidnap her, kill her, and send her dismembered body parts to her mother. Matthew Cooney, now 31, developed a twisted obsession with the child after spotting her getting off a bus at Eastham Rake in 2015, when he was aged 21. The case, which culminated in a sentencing at Liverpool Crown Court, revealed a pattern of escalating violence and manipulation that left the victim terrified and contemplating suicide.
Escalating Threats and Manipulative Behaviour
Cooney, who drove from Manchester in hopes of meeting the girl after seeing her photos on social media, initially approached her in his car, told her she was ‘fit’, and demanded her phone number, causing her to try and hide. Prosecutor Joanne Daniels detailed how Cooney ‘would not leave her alone’, bombarding the victim with violent messages over weeks. When she refused to meet him, the threats intensified, with Cooney stating he would find her home, kidnap her, kill her, cut her into pieces, and send the remains to her mother.
Even after being blocked, Cooney created additional accounts to continue the harassment. He sent chilling photographs of himself self-harming, including images of a large knife held to his throat and a mouth full of tablets, threatening to kill himself if she did not comply. Out of fear, the victim eventually agreed to meet him outside Eastham Rake railway station, where he gave her a bracelet with a love heart and promised to ‘treat her like a princess’.
Stalking Extends to School and Family
The stalking extended beyond online messages, with Cooney turning up at the girl’s school and approaching other pupils to pass on messages. In one alarming incident, he picked up two female students in his car and had them direct him to her house. The victim received a sympathy card from Cooney with the inscription ‘on the loss of someone so special in your life’, prompting her to finally inform her parents. Cooney then called the victim’s father, threatening to send people to their house or arrive with a gun, using a withheld number to evade detection.
Further attempts to intimidate included a hand-written letter asking ‘ever get the feeling that someone is watching you?’ and emails to the school falsely claiming he was a police officer who had seen the girl smoking cannabis in her uniform. Cooney fled to America after being due to appear at Liverpool Magistrate’s Court in June 2016, living illegally until his deportation in November last year, when he was arrested at Heathrow Airport.
Sentencing and Defence Arguments
Cooney pleaded guilty to stalking and has no previous UK convictions, but accumulated three theft offences in the USA, valued between $5,000 and $25,000, and failed to appear in court there in 2021 and 2023. Defending, John Rowan argued that Cooney was a ‘very immature and impulsive young man’ with mental health issues at the time, grieving the loss of his grandfather and struggling with alcohol. Rowan noted Cooney now has three children, including a daughter, and has been in long-term relationships, which he said highlights the seriousness of his past actions.
Cooney is also grieving the loss of his estranged wife and two children in a 2024 car crash in Arkansas. Judge Ian Harris, sentencing, emphasised the terror inflicted, stating Cooney ‘threatened to kidnap her, to kill her, and to send pieces of her body to her mother’ and that the victim was so terrified she contemplated suicide. Cooney was sentenced to three years and six months in prison and given a restraining order banning contact with the victim for 15 years.
This case underscores the severe impact of stalking on young victims and the legal consequences for such predatory behaviour, serving as a stark reminder of the importance of child safety and vigilance in communities.
