Locations
Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, KA1
Description
A former Ayrshire nurse who stalked a terrified woman after matching with her on a dating app is back in jail after she contacted the victim just ten days after being released from prison.
Adele Rennie, 34, from Kilmarnock, was jailed in September 2024 for an elaborate catfishing scam. She was also handed a five-year non-harassment order that banned her from contacting the woman, who she had targeted with the scam.
Rennie was released from jail on 13 January this year but remained registered as a sex offender and subject to monitoring and restrictions. But, just ten days after her release, Rennie sent text messages to her victim.
Rennie was found to have flouted the non-harassment order on January 23 when a social worker was made aware of messages sent to the previous victim. The phone number of the woman had been stored in Rennies phone under the name Gord - but actually belonged to her previous victim whom Rennie was prohibited by court order from contacting.
Rennie pled guilty at the Kilmarnock Sheriff Court on Tuesday (April 22). Rennie, dubbed Scotlands most prolific catfish, was previously jailed in 2017 for a decade-long stalking campaign.
She is to be the subject of a BBC Three and BBC Scotland documentary titled The Catfish Next Door, charting the campaign. Rennie targeted a number of women with stalking campaigns, which all began online but had far-reaching consequences for her victims.
Rennie pretended to be a man, using a voice-changing app and a number of aliases including David Graham, David Crolla, Davie, Marco and Matthew Mancini.
David Bernard, Procurator Fiscal for North Strathclyde, said: The law will not tolerate Adele Rennies refusal to abide by the strict restrictions placed upon her. Prosecutors at COPFS will respond robustly to keep the community safe from distressing and damaging behaviour like stalking.
We recognise the trauma suffered by some victims of this insidious crime and court orders will be enforced at the earliest opportunity should a perpetrator such as Rennie attempt to reoffend.