A student who was left terrified after her former driving instructor turned into a stalker, has passed her driving test.
University of York student, Maisie Relph, 19, passed her driving test yesterday (November 13) in Walton near Wakefield.
As The Press reported in the Summer, Maisie's previous driving instructor created a TikTok dedicated to her and paid dark web hackers to access her social media accounts. Graham Mansie, 52, was given a suspended sentence for stalking his former pupil.
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Speaking after passing, Maisie said: "I was honestly so shocked that I passed, it is genuinely down to my amazing new instructor Jenny Williams.
"I was so nervous when I started lessons due to what happened with my old instructor, but Jenny gave me the confidence I needed and I just can’t believe I’ve passed.
"I didn’t tell anyone I was sitting the test so it was a total shock for my family and friends when I said I’d passed this morning. I was so determined to not let it beat me, and just feel that I can now put this chapter of my life behind me."
Maisie, who is studying psychology in education at York said she went out to celebrate with her housemates after passing.
She said: "I'm absolutely over the moon. After what happened with my first instructor I rang round a few driving schools in York. I knew it had to be a woman, and Jenny said, although she was fully booked, she'd make a special case for me because of the court case.
"I had a male examiner and it was the first time I'd been in the car with a man since the court case. I was so nervous, I can't tell you.
"I'm going to save up for a car now."
A court heard in June how Mansie became obsessed with the then 17-year-old while he taught her how to drive in Bromley.
She said initially she had no worries with his behaviour, but after her 18th birthday, he changed.
Mansie asked Maisie out for drinks and created a TikTok account called ‘For Maisie’ which featured a red heart emoji and the bio “my favourite”.
He taught around 15 of her pals to drive too and gave another student a gift bag to pass on to her, it was said, containing £65 in restaurant vouchers.
The present hamper had a keyring featuring a bone with her dog’s name on and even a University of York sign - the city she was due to move to.
When the victim blocked Mansie on all social media and stopped learning how to drive with him, his car was spotted on her road.
Even when she moved to university in York he followed her electronically - creating a fake Instagram account pretending to be an 18-year-old student called Ben Williams.
He even joined a WhatsApp group for her halls of residence.
And he turned up in the city although did not enter her accommodation, it was said - and was arrested soon after.
Mansie, from Beckenham, south-east London, was given an eight-week jail term suspended for a year at Bromley Magistrates’ Court.
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