Paedophile who stalked and stabbed girl jailed

A paedophile who stalked and repeatedly stabbed a 15-year-old girl he had met online and hounded for sexual selfies has been jailed for 38 years.

Ellis Dismore, 24, befriended the girl by pretending to be a teenage boy before plaguing her with threats and attacking her on a Middlesbrough street, Teesside Crown Court heard.

The girl, who only survived due to the intervention of a passing motorist, said Dismore had ruined her life.

Dismore, from Middlesbrough, was found guilty of 26 offences including attempted murder and inciting eight other girls he met online to engage in sexual activity.

He will have to serve a further five years on extended licence.

He posed as a teenage boy called James Wilson when he met the girl online in 2022.

In a statement read to the court, the girl said she had been a "normal, happy" teenager who enjoyed socialising, but Dismore began to control her with threats to the point where she did not want to leave the house and felt like a "prisoner".

"I did what he told me to because I was scared what would happen to me, my friends and family," the girl said, adding he demanded indecent pictures of her.

She eventually confided in a friend who told her to block him online, but when she did, he sent the pictures to multiple people causing her to feel "terrified" of meeting anyone who had seen them.

The girl eventually told her mum, who contacted the police, prompting Dismore to send her vitriolic voice messages in which he said he would happily do "jail time" for stabbing her in the heart.

He was seen purchasing a pack of steak knives from a supermarket shortly before attacking the girl on 22 June 2023.

She was walking home from school when Dismore approached her and said he needed medical help, the court previously heard.

It was the first time she had seen Dismore but she recognised his voice and fled. Her screams for help were picked up on nearby security cameras.

Dismore, of Stoneyhurst Avenue, chased her down and stabbed her five times in the back before a passing motorist got her into their car and drove away.

The girl said the female driver saved her life, adding she feared she was going to die.

She said Dismore had "changed" her life and "ruined" her teenage years, adding: "I don't know if I will ever get over everything he has done to me."

Other victims said Dismore, similarly posing as a teenage boy called James, forced them into sending indecent images of themselves.

One told how he had threatened to stab her five-year-old sibling, while another said she did not want to send him pictures of herself but "he put me under such pressure I felt I had to".

Another said she was 13 when she joined social media and was "naive" and "trusting".

She said "James" seemed "nice" and "decent" and would leap to her defence online when other accounts posted "nasty" comments about her.

It was later discovered Dismore was behind those accounts too and he was grooming her to gain her trust, the court heard.

The girl said Dismore went on to threaten her family and told her he had a camera in her home, which caused her to live "on edge".

Another victim said she spent three years being "bombarded" with "rude, hateful and inappropriate" messages from Dismore and he used personal information to "blackmail" her, taking away a time of "fun and enjoyment".

She said she was left with paranoia and anxiety, adding: "I spent years wondering why someone unknown to me could hate me so much and with such venom."

Judge Timothy Stead said Dismore was "dangerous" and had been "insidious" in his efforts to befriend the girls before turning "very nasty indeed".

He said no-one had calculated exactly how many girls Dismore had made contact with while hunting for victims, but his file was "voluminous", adding: "You must have been devoting an enormous amount of time and energy to this criminal activity."

He said the children had "serious threats" made against them, their homes, families and friends and Dismore had caused them great distress and anxiety.

The judge said the victim of the stabbing could "count herself very fortunate" she was not killed.

Judge Stead said it was to the "enormous credit" of the passing driver who intervened that the girl survived.

"I have no doubt if it hadn't been for the actions of that woman this may well, and very likely would have, been an offence of murder as [Dismore] intended."

A sexual harm prevention order and restraining order banning Dismore from contacting any of his nine victims were also made.

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