A former Ripon Grammar School teacher waged a “relentless” three-year stalking campaign against an ex-colleague after blaming her for getting her sacked, a jury was told.

Barbara Shiells, 60, the former deputy house parent for boarders at Ripon Grammar School, allegedly turned up at Caroline Day’s home, left dog faeces on her property, stared at her through her kitchen window while “grinding her teeth” and waged an online smear campaign to damage her reputation, York Crown Court heard.

Prosecutor Felicity Hemlin said the “relentless crusade” against Ms Day began after Ms Shiells was sacked by Ripon Grammar in October 2020.

“She blamed, in the most part, Caroline Day for that,” added the barrister.

She said that between October 2020 and April 2024 - a period of about three-and-a-half years - Ms Shiells subjected Ms Day to an unrelenting stalking campaign which included turning up at her home on “numerous” occasions, staring at her through her kitchen window and twice leaving dog muck on a disabled ramp which Ms Day had installed outside her home for a family member.

She added that, on occasions, Ms Shiells would walk past Ms Day’s home, staring at her while holding a hockey stick.

'Obsessed and fixated'

Ms Shiells, who was allegedly “obsessed and fixated” with Ms Day, also sent “numerous emails from numerous different accounts” to parents at the school, making accusations about Ms Day and her work, and bombarding her with phone calls from withheld numbers.

She said that Ms Shiells also published Ms Day’s telephone number and address online and set up a blog called ‘Ripon Whistleblower’ on which she made a “catalogue of accusations” against her “for many years”.

She alleged that Ms Shiells also “tagged” Ms Day so that her name appeared on internet searches “with negative information”.

The prosecutor said that Ms Day’s fear of her address and phone number being made public left her wanting to change jobs.

However, the “smear campaign” made if difficult for her to apply for new roles and she was even fearful of leaving her home and walking her dog, which had had a “devastating” effect on her.

Ms Hemlin told the jury:

Former colleagues

The court heard that Ms Shiells and Ms Day used to work together at Ripon Grammar.

Ms Shiells worked as deputy house parent looking after boarding pupils and started in that role in March 2020. Ms Day worked in various roles including assistant head teacher.

The prestigious co-ed school, which has a mix of state-educated and fee-paying boarding pupils, boasts ‘Old Riponians’ alumni including fashion designer Bruce Oldfield, Top Gear's Richard Hammond and former Secretary of State William Hague.

Ms Hemlin said that both Ms Shiells and Ms Day had lived on-site at the school and Ms Shiells continued to live there after being dismissed.

She said it was at the point of her sacking that Ms Shiells “focused her energy on Ms Day and started to harass her” because she blamed her ex-colleague for losing her job.

She said that days after her sacking in October 2020, Ms Shiells was standing outside Ms Day’s kitchen window “grinding her teeth with her fists up”.

“If Ms Day turned towards (the defendant), Ms Shiells would just stand there, looking at her, like a statue, with no facial expression, not moving,” added Ms Hemlin.

She said that Ms Shiells would pass “slowly” by Ms Day’s house “up to 15 times a day” which left her with “constant” anxiety.

Ms Hemlin said that Ms Day had also seen Ms Shiells standing outside a window at the school when she was working.

Panic attacks

In February 2021, Ms Shiells allegedly made a series of anonymous, work-related complaints about Ms Day to Ofsted and the local education authority which were dismissed but led to Ms Day suffering panic attacks and a “significant amount of distress”.

Ms Hemlin said there was “no legitimate claim” that Ms Shiells could have made against Ms Day regarding her work.

She said that Ms Shiells then made a series of unsuccessful Subject Access Requests (SARs) to Ripon Grammar School, asking for personal data about Ms Day, ostensibly in relation to Ms Shiells’s sacking.

Ms Day “thought that would be the end of it”, but in April 2022 Ms Shiells resumed her “hate campaign” and sent an email to “all parents” of boarding-school pupils traducing Ms Day’s work and her character.

In July 2022, late at night, Ms Day received a call from a withheld number and recognised Ms Shiells’s voice saying:

“Ms Day said (Ms Shiells’s) voice was loud and she was slurring her words,” added Ms Hemlin.

She hung up, locked her doors and called police, but then received a second call.

Ms Hemlin said that Ms Day was later horrified to discover that Ms Shiells had started a weblog publishing confidential information about her including pictures of her garden and details about her address.

'Attempt to discredit'

In October 2022, Ms Shiells sent an email under a false name to the housemaster at Ripon Grammar which contained a link to her blog.

She sent another email under a false name to school governors with a link to the website which the prosecution said was an “attempt to discredit, humiliate and harass” Ms Day.

Four days later, Ms Shiells sent another email, under her real name, to “all parents” at the school with a link to the weblog.

A month later, she sent an email to Ms Day’s former school, Boroughbridge High School, with a link to the blog which the prosecution said was intended to cause Ms Day “embarrassment and distress”.

Ms Shiells was arrested in February 2023 but despite being warned about the impact of her behaviour on Ms Day, the social-media posts continued on the ‘Ripon Whistleblower’ blog, with a Facebook link to the website and pictures of the grounds of Ripon Grammar and Ms Day’s home.

The photo outlined the route from the main road, through the school to Ms Day’s home where she lived with her family.

“That left Ms Day extremely distressed and upset, leaving her fearing someone might attend her property and cause her harm,” added Ms Hemlin.

She said that Ms Shiells had boasted that she had “over 40,000 views and over 3,000 visitors” to her blog, which left Ms Day feeling extremely depressed, fearing that Ms Shiells had “supporters” who may wish her ill.

Ms Hemlin said Ms Day’s ordeal continued into early 2024 when Ms Shiells posted information about the complaints that she had made about Ms Day to the education authorities and shared a photo of her former colleague which was taken “without her consent or knowledge”.

In one section of the weblog, Ms Shiells wrote:

In February last year, Ms Shiells allegedly published Ms Day’s work history on the blog and on X, formerly known as Twitter.

In April of that year, she posted a picture of Ripon Grammar School’s 2020 staff handbook which was a confidential document, said Ms Hemlin.

She added:

Changed routine

Ms Day had to change her daily routine and underwent counselling therapy.

“She stopped walking and running on her own and had to take considerable time off work due to the ongoing stress and anxiety,” added Ms Hemlin.

She said that Ms Day was “in no doubt” that Ms Shiells was trying to “destroy her life, career and her mental health.”

Ms Shiells, now living in Thornborough, near Bedale, denies stalking Ms Day.

She appeared for the first day of her trial yesterday (November 18) when her barrister Carl Buckley said his client disputed the allegations that she smeared dog excrement on Ms Day’s property and walked past her house with a hockey stick.

He said that Ms Shiells accepted “certain allegations” such as publishing information about Ms Day on the weblog and making allegations about her to various regulatory bodies which were dismissed.

He claimed, however, that this did not amount to stalking as she felt she was “justified in what she did” and believed she was acting in the best interests of the school.

Mr Buckley claimed there was no intention on Ms Shiells’s part to “specifically target” and stalk Ms Day, nor cause her serious alarm or distress, which the prosecution must also prove.

The trial continues.