Eight women harassed by man before he ‘stabbed woman to death’, inquest told

Michael Sellers is thought to have stabbed Gracie Spinks months after she told him she did not want a relationship with him.

Gracie Spinks died aged 23 on June 18 2021 (Family handout/PA) (PA Media)

Eight women had been harassed by a man before he is believed to have fatally stabbed a woman with whom he had become “obsessed”, an inquest has heard.

Gracie Spinks, 23, died on the morning of June 18 2021 from 10 stab wounds alleged to have been inflicted by her colleague Michael Sellers, 35, six months after she had told him she did not want to pursue a romantic relationship with him.

Sellers was found dead hours later, having taken his own life, 150 metres away from the field in Duckmanton, Derbyshire, where Ms Spinks had been killed.

The second day of an inquest into Ms Spinks’ death, at Chesterfield Coroner’s Court, on Tuesday heard that she had thought Sellers was “sweet and caring” and had met him a handful of times outside work for a meal and to go for walks and to each other’s homes.

But she had decided they should “distance” themselves after an incident while she was self-isolating at home in December 2020.

Sellers, who lived at home with his parents in Sheffield and worked with Ms Spinks at xbite, an e-commerce firm, visited her home to take her some items she had ordered and was invited inside, but he “started kissing her and got on top of her”, and she asked him to stop.

Ms Spinks sent him a text on December 16 2020 saying he was a “great guy” and she was sorry for letting him down but she did not have time to have a relationship – something which had left Sellers upset.

She reported Sellers to the HR department at their workplace after seeing him parked in a layby near the field where her horse was stabled, on January 4 2021.

When Ms Spinks arrived at work the same morning, Sellers had tried to talk to her, leaving her “unnerved and upset”.

Detective Constable Denise Sandall, from Derbyshire Constabulary, told the inquest that their investigation into Ms Spinks’ death had identified eight other women who had previously received unwanted attention from Sellers.

The first woman, who worked with Sellers at a different firm, left her job because his unwanted attention left her so uncomfortable. She reported seeing Sellers after she had left the job, parked near her home at night.

A second woman said she left her workplace after Sellers continued to message her even after asking him to stop, and had been forced to change her address and the car she drove, but he had still managed to find her.

Police had been told by a colleague of Sellers that he had a “fascination” with watching a third young woman, although she was not aware of this until she was approached by officers investigating Ms Spinks’ death.

A fourth woman said Sellers had asked her out on a date ten times before she told him to stop and she left her job, but noticed he seemed to know details about her life, friends and plans, eventually discovering that Sellers is believed to have created a fake account to follow her on Instagram.

A fifth woman had gone out for a drink with Sellers and they became intimate, but he became “annoyed” when she told him to stop.

He reportedly continued to message her but she thought he was “creepy” so ignored him.

Sellers became “hostile” and bumped his car into hers at a roundabout as he followed her while she was driving home.

Police were unable to get in contact with the sixth woman, and the seventh said Sellers had become possessive, accusing her of speaking to other men and not him.

The eighth woman was made uncomfortable by Sellers’ behaviour towards her, and xbite reportedly spoke to him about “inappropriate” behaviour.

After Ms Spinks reported Sellers to xbite a disciplinary hearing was held in January 2021, where he acknowledged all of his actions except for forcing himself on her, but he was dismissed for gross misconduct.

The hearing also heard he allegedly got employees he was supervising to “spy” on Ms Spinks’ social media.

Sellers appealed against the decision to dismiss him, saying Ms Spinks was “lying about the nature of their relationship” but could not provide any evidence to support his claim.

Ms Spinks had also reported Sellers to the police for harassment on February 4 2021.

The jury were also shown CCTV of the alleged killer’s last movements on June 17 and 18 2021, in which a car matching the description of one belonging to Sellers was seen in the vicinity of Gracie’s home.

The inquest heard Gracie is believed to have been killed between 8.03am and 8.10am on June 18 as she tended to her horse Paddy.

Her body was discovered by a woman who called 999 at 8.13am.

Ms Sandall told the inquest that police made the link between Ms Spinks’ death and Sellers by 9.23am.

When asked why they came to this conclusion, she said: “That link was made because of the report of harassment Gracie had made in February.

“There was a crime report in our systems, that would have linked Gracie to Michael Sellers straightaway.”

Sellers’ body was discovered by two people in undergrowth just after 11am the same day Ms Spinks was killed.

A note was found in a bedside cabinet at his home in which he said he could not deal with “all her lies against me” and he was “sorry I let everyone down”.

The inquest is expected to continue on Wednesday.