Matthew Cooney threatened to kidnap the child, “kill her, cut her into pieces and send her back to her mother”
Matthew Cooney threatened to kidnap the child, “kill her, cut her into pieces and send her back to her mother”
A depraved stalker threatened to kidnap a 13-year-old girl, kill her, chop her up and send her body parts to her mum. Matthew Cooney, 31, developed a twisted obsession with the child after he saw her getting off a bus at Eastham Rake.
Cooney, of Stetchworth Drive in Worsley, drove from Manchester to the Wirral in the hopes of meeting the girl, whom he did not know, after seeing pictures of her on social media. After following her in his car, he approached her, told her she was “fit” and asked for her phone number.
The girl walked away and tried to hide behind some bushes, but was pursued by Cooney, who “would not leave her alone” until she complied with his request. He quickly began stalking her, terrifying her with a barrage of violent and threatening messages.
At Liverpool Crown Court yesterday, Wednesday (February 4), prosecutor Joanne Daniels said: “The defendant wasn’t deterred by the victim’s age, which she continued to point out over messages.
“The messages continued for weeks until the defendant asked to meet up. She refused. The defendant didn’t take no for an answer and bombarded the victim with more messages.
“The messages became extremely threatening and violent. He said he would find out where she lived, kidnap her, kill her, cut her into pieces and send her back to her mother.
“The victim blocked the defendant, but he set up further accounts and bombarded her with messages from these accounts.”
Cooney sent the girl photographs of himself self-harming, holding a large knife to his throat and posing with a mouth full of tablets. Ms Daniels said: “The threats continued from the defendant’s accounts and he said if the victim didn’t meet him, he would kill himself.”
Out of fear, the victim eventually agreed to meet Cooney outside Eastham Rake railway station, where he gave her a bracelet with a love heart on it and told her he would “treat her like a princess”.
Cooney was aged 21 at the time, with the events dating back to a six-month period in 2015.
He turned up at the girl’s school, where he began approaching other pupils and asking them to pass on messages to her. In a statement, the victim also described an occasion where he picked up two female pupils in his car and had them direct him to her house.
Ms Daniels said: “The victim received a sympathy card from the defendant saying ‘on the loss of someone so special in your life’. At this point the victim decided she would have to tell her parents.
“The next day, the defendant rang the victim’s father. The victim’s father ended the call, but the defendant called back straight away from a withheld number, saying he knows where he lives and would send people round to the house, or that he would come to their house with a gun.
“The victim described she felt suicidal because of the defendant.”
Cooney sent a hand-written letter to the 13-year-old saying “ever get the feeling that someone is watching you?” He also sent two emails to the girl’s school claiming that he was a police officer and had seen the girl smoking cannabis in her school uniform.
Cooney was supposed to appear at Liverpool Magistrate’s Court in June 2016, however the court heard he fled to America, where he lived illegally until his deportation in November last year. A warrant was issued, and he was arrested on his arrival at Heathrow Airport. He pleaded guilty to stalking.
He has no previous convictions in the UK, but racked up three offences of theft, valued between $5,000 and $25,000, while living in the USA. He also failed to appear twice in the USA courts in 2021 and 2023.
John Rowan, defending, said: “The offence took place back in 2015. He’s now 31. His life is completely different to how it was then. He was, in my submission, an individual who was young, and he was at that time a very immature and very impulsive young man with some mental health issues.
“He was someone who, at the time, had just lost his grandfather who was a father figure to him, and he was having issues with alcohol as well.
“From when he was 21 to now he has had three children of his own, a daughter of his own, two wives, he has been in long-term relationships. They are indicators to him as to how vulnerable that child was at the time, and how inappropriate and serious his behaviour towards her was.
“It may seem trite, but this defendant wants to offer his remorse, his deepest regret as to how he behaved back then.”
He added: “This defendant accepts that this court will be concerned about the fact that he left the jurisdiction prior to attending court back in 2016. He left the country and speaking to someone online and going to meet that person, who eventually became his wife and the mother of his two children.”
He said Cooney was still grieving after losing his then-estranged wife and two children in a car crash in Arkansas in 2024.
Sentencing, judge Ian Harris said: “You subjected the victim to a barrage of messages which increasingly became threatening and violent. You threatened to kidnap her, to kill her, and to send pieces of her body to her mother.
“You sent pictures of yourself self-harming. You held a knife to your throat and sent a picture of you with tablets in your mouth. You threatened to kill yourself if she would not meet you. You terrified her to the extent she contemplated suicide.”
He said Cooney’s behaviour was “cruel and violent”, and “repulsive”, adding: “You affected her life as a young girl. Her school had to become involved, as did her family. She says she can never forget what you did.”
He sentenced Cooney to three years and six months in prison, and made a restraining order banning him from contacting the victim for 15 years.