It was a relationship which began when a widowed dentist sought ‘companionship’ following the death of his wife.
But after David Pagliero and dental nurse Sophie Colwill split, she embarked on a stalking campaign against him which has ended up in court, with her receiving a suspended jail sentence.
The obsessed 30-year-old fitted a tracking device to Mr Pagliero’s car and followed him.
She also bombarded her victim with up to 1,000 telephone calls in a single day and even managed to gain entry to his house, waiting for him in his bedroom before fleeing through a window.
Colwill, who worked with Mr Pagliero, 54, at the Smile Dental Centre in Exeter, which dubs itself The Gentle Dental Centre, pleaded guilty to stalking involving serious alarm or distress.
But she was spared a jail sentence on Thursday after Mr Pagliero urged the district judge to be ‘kind’ and not lock her up.
Prosecutor Alistair Verheijen told the court Colwill carried out the stalking campaign in May.
Colwill followed the dentist in his car to various locations and he felt he was being tracked by her, Mr Verheijen said.
The victim noticed that Colwill started turning up at the same locations as him – such as a service station when he was buying petrol.
He drove to a local business called Dart’s Farm near his home and, after leaving his vehicle, saw Colwill open his car – and he thought she must have a spare car key.
Mr Pagliero was forced to leave his car in the car park because he believed he was being tracked by her.
When he returned to the vehicle, Colwill was there again, Mr Verheijen said.
He added that when Mr Pagliero attempted to talk to Colwill – who handed over the tracker – ‘she became very distressed and he said she had a meltdown’.
The court was told that the dentist returned to his home and ‘barricaded himself into his own bedroom’.
But Mr Verheijen said: ‘At 2am, he found Colwill in his own bedroom, there without his permission.
‘She went for his mobile phone and there was a tug of war.’
Colwill then fled through a window.
Details of how Colwill entered her former lover’s £1.35m five-bedroom detached home in Exton, Devon, were not revealed in court.
She also harassed him by phone, making 965 calls to him in a single day and the next day over 1,000 calls.
‘The calls did not stop,’ Mr Verheijen said.
Mr Pagliero contacted police and Colwill, of Ottery St Mary, east of Exeter, was arrested but made no comment.
The court heard an audio recording from when she entered his bedroom where the victim could be heard shouting ‘help, help, help’.
Mr Pagliero – whose late wife Sharon, the mother of his two teenage children, died in 2021 – told the court he had wanted companionship from Colwill but the impact of her stalking had been huge and ‘worn me down’.
He said he feared she would be hiding in bushes by his village home, or lurking in side roads as he drove his car.
In a victim impact statement, Mr Pagliero said Colwill had been a ‘companion’ and it was a ‘tonic and nice’.
But things changed and it became very traumatic for him.
He said he was worried she was following him constantly and hiding in bushes by his driveway.
The dentist said he was left on ‘tenterhooks’ because ‘you will be there somewhere.’
But he implored the judge to be ‘kind to Sophie’ and said he tried to help her but realised now that was not possible.
Mr Pagliero said he did not want vengeance, adding: ‘I never wanted that. But your actions wore me down’.’
Peter Seigne, defending, said: ‘This is a serious matter of stalking, particularly entering his property.’
He said Colwill had been left ‘fragile’ by the whole experience and was ‘incredibly distressed and finding it difficult to cope’, adding: ‘Her issues are significant.’
Colwill, who qualified as a dental nurse in 2021, wept in the dock as her solicitor explained how the case may affect her career – as she faces potential disciplinary action from the General Dental Council – and future intimate relationships.
He said Colwill found the end of the relationship very difficult and she was incredibly distressed, but knows the relationship is over.
Colwill – who has one previous conviction for drink driving in 2020 – was given a 20-week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months, after the district judge said her behaviour had a ‘huge impact’ on her victim.
She was also made subject of a five-year restraining order banning her from contacting Mr Pagliero or going to his home or dental surgery.