Woman sentenced following campaign of harassment against former partner

A woman who harassed her former partner and his new girlfriend has been sentenced after subjecting them to a campaign of abusive messages and threats.

Michelle Boyd, of Pulford Close, Kingsmead, Northwich, was sentenced to six months suspended for two years during a hearing at Liverpool Crown Court on Monday 18th May.

Boyd was originally charged with stalking involving serious alarm and distress. Instead, the court accepted Boyd’s guilty plea to two counts of harassment without violence. 

The 52-year-old was a former Inspector at Cheshire Constabulary. The investigation was managed by the Harm Reduction Unit. The Harm Reduction Unit is a specialist stalking risk management service delivered by Cheshire Constabulary in conjunction with Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust, Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and the Probation Service.

Between March 2022 and December 2023, Boyd repeatedly harassed the victim - her former partner – by sending a large number of abusive and unpleasant messages. This included around 500 emails. Even when she was asked to stop by solicitors instructed by the victim, she continued with her behaviour.

Boyd also turned her attention to the victim’s new partner, bombarding her with messages on social media, which became threatening at times. She also approached the woman’s employer and told them lies about her to try and impact her career and reputation.

Whenever Boyd saw the two victims in public, she would take photographs of them and send them back to them, making derogatory comments.

The incidents were reported to police in December 2023, resulting in Boyd’s arrest.

When her phone was analysed, evidence showed Boyd had contacted Crimestoppers anonymously with false information which had led to her former partner being stopped by police, believing him to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs – this was not the case.

Messages showed Boyd also tried to intimidate the two victims by using her position within Cheshire Constabulary to her advantage, claiming that officers would be monitoring their movements – this was not true.

Boyd also breached her bail conditions during the court process. She had been bailed by the court following her guilty pleas on 13 February 2026 and one of the conditions was not to publish any material on social media referring to the ongoing case or the victims.  She breached the condition within days, using social media to post comments relating to the victims.

On top of her sentence, Boyd was handed restraining orders prohibiting her from contacting the victims in this case.

Following the sentencing, DS Nichola McClellan from Cheshire Police’s Harm Reduction Unit said:

“The lengths Boyd went to in order to belittle the victims in this case and make their lives a misery was staggering.

“She made false claims about them to try and ruin their reputations, even going to one of their employers with malicious lies and sending them a tirade of abuse, all for her own personal gain.

“No-one should be subjected to this kind of behaviour and if you have been subjected to anything similar, please report it to us by calling 101 or by visiting our website.”

DI Jude Edwards from Cheshire Police’s Safeguarding Governance Unit added:

“As this case demonstrates, just because you are a police officer, it does not mean you are above the law, and it is no excuse for this type of behaviour.

“Boyd tried to exploit her position to threaten the victims, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank them for coming forward and reporting these incidents to us.

“Whether you are reporting criminal matters or ones of misconduct, we take these extremely seriously and will always investigate every report thoroughly.”

During the investigation, an Accelerated Misconduct Hearing was held against Boyd for unrelated matters. During this hearing, it was determined she had a case to answer for Gross Misconduct and would have been dismissed had she not already resigned.

Senior Crown Prosecutor Joseph Woodyatt of CPS Mersey-Cheshire added:

“After Michelle Boyd separated from her partner, she became hostile towards him. From 1 March 2022 until 30 December 2023, she conducted a campaign of spying and online abuse towards him and his new partner.

“In hundreds of emails and messages over 18 months, the campaign was cruel, relentless and vindictive. She threatened to destroy their reputations and careers. The language used was vile and offensive.

“Boyd was a serving police officer at the time of her offending and should have known far better than to act in the way that she did. Her prosecution is an important reminder that this targeted and offensive behaviour will not be tolerated.

“The trauma suffered by the victims will be long lasting and the CPS hopes that the justice delivered against Boyd will enable them to move on from the suffering they have been subjected to.”