Ex-professional cricketer sent back to jail for what he did on dating app

A former professional cricketer who stalked an ex-girlfriend has been sent back to prison after he started a new relationship online.

Grant Hodnett, a South African who played at county level, was jailed for 18 months in February this year for stalking the former partner as well as breaching a restraining order to protect a second woman he previously stalked. The 42-year-old was released on license in September after serving half of his sentence, the Liverpool Echo reports.

As part of his licence conditions he was required to inform his probation officer of any developing relationships. But in late November Cheshire Constabulary received a notification from a neighbouring force that Hodnett, most recently of Coniston Avenue in Winsford, Cheshire, had started a relationship with a woman he'd met via an online dating app.

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Due to his offending history this triggered a response from the force's specialist stalking investigation and risk management unit. Checks quickly confirmed that Hodnett had failed to inform the Probation Service of this relationship or his use of dating apps, despite having multiple opportunities to do so.

This triggered an emergency recall on Thursday, December 5, and Hodnett was arrested less than 24 hours later. As a result of his actions Hodnett is now back in prison where he will serve the remainder of his sentence.

Cheshire Constabulary Police Constable Keith Terrill, of the force's harm reduction unit, said: "Hodnett's actions have again shown he is either unable or unwilling to adhere to conditions placed upon him. Thanks to swift information sharing and the integration of the harm reduction unit with the Probation Service, we were able to quickly identify the developing risk Hodnett posed and safeguard the public by recalling him to prison.

"I hope that this demonstrates how Cheshire Police, and our partners, continue to monitor stalking perpetrators and serial domestic abuse perpetrators long after investigations and court cases have ended, and that we will use every tool and power available to us to protect the public from the risks they pose."

During the court's proceedings in February this year, the court heard Hodnett had moved to the UK to play cricket professionally. But Hodnett was handed a 24-week imprisonment suspended for two years and an indefinite restraining order by magistrates in September 2020 after pleading guilty to stalking his estranged partner Heather Callaghan.

The court heard he "embarked on a campaign of stalking" including signing up her email for services from companies online offering counselling for mental health, drug, alcohol and sexual issues. Hodnett, who at the time was on Birch Road in Warrington, then began another relationship with Heather Jones in June last year. She became aware of his previous conviction shortly after they became a couple but "gave him the benefit of the doubt".

Then, when she went away on a trip to London with a friend in September 2023, he sent her a string of "needy" messages throughout the weekend. Hodnett, who has worked as a personal trainer since his sporting career ended, also began messaging her companion from a fake Instagram account - "trying to find out information" about his girlfriend while claiming to be a man called Aaron.

"A few days later", Ms Jones discovered that he had been accessing her iPad without her permission. After she confronted him over his behaviour, he collected his belongings and left her home. She then woke the following morning to find that Hodnett had changed his WhatsApp profile picture to a photograph of a noose and sent her a supposed suicide note, which was addressed to his parents. Ms Jones reported her concerns to the police and he was arrested but later released without charge.

Then, over the course of several weeks in October and November, she began to receive a series of emails from counselling services after he had submitted her details via online contact forms. She "burst out crying" after receiving a phone call from a therapist on one occasion.

On October 18, Hodnett - who represented Gloucestershire in county cricket between 2005 and 2009 - contacted two of Ms Jones' friends "asking questions about her" and accused her of saying "unpleasant things" about them. She suffered a panic attack following this incident.

Finally, on November 4, she received a call from a withheld number at 11pm. Ms Jones answered but found no one on the other end, with the call later being linked to Hodnett's number. He also breached his existing restraining order on November 1 by entering a section of London Road in Stockton Heath from which he was banned from entering. Ms Callaghan was driving along this route at around 12.15pm when she saw her ex-boyfriend in the area outside LD24 coffee shop and Satay pan-Asian restaurant.

She took a picture of Hodnett on her mobile phone before leaving, then contacted the police. But he also rang the authorities and said he was "subject to a restraining order and his ex-partner had taken a photograph of him". Hodnett also has a caution for harassment from 2015.

Max Saffman, defending, told the court in February that Hodnett had "brought a lot of pleasure to people in his professional life as a cricketer and a personal trainer", stating: "There are many people who think well of him. They are very grateful for his time and energy. Ultimately, when he is released from this sentence, he will not come back before the courts again with assistance. He would take every opportunity to him to ensure that he is not back before the courts again."

Judge Denis Watson KC, who presided over the sentencing in February, told Hodnett: "It is noted that you pose a risk of significant and serious harm to future partners."