Dental nurse Sophie Colwill pleads guilty to stalking after fitting a tracker to dentist David Pagliero’s car

It was a relationship that began when a widowed dentist sought “companionship” following his wife’s death.

But after David Pagliero and dental nurse Sophie Colwill split she embarked on a stalking campaign which has ended up in court – with her receiving a 20-week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months.

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 phone calls a day and gained entry to his house.

Colwill, who had worked with Mr Pagliero, 54, at the Smile Dental Centre in Exeter, pleaded guilty to stalking involving serious alarm or distress. But she was spared jail after Mr Pagliero urged the judge to be “kind” and not jail her.

Prosecutor Alistair Verheijen said Colwill carried out the stalking campaign in May.

She followed the dentist in his car to various locations and he felt that he was being tracked by her, Mr Verheijen said.

He drove to a local business and, after leaving his vehicle, saw Colwill open his car – and he thought that she must have a spare key for his car.

Mr Pagliero was forced to leave his car there because he believed he was being tracked by her.

When he returned to the vehicle, Colwill was there again.

He added that when Mr Pagliero attempted to talk to Colwill – who handed over the tracker – “she became very distressed”.

The court was told the dentist returned to his £1.35million ($2.65million) five-bedroom detached home in Exton, Devon, and “barricaded himself into his own bedroom”.

But Mr Verheijen said: “At 2am, he found Colwill in his bedroom. She went for his mobile phone and there was a tug of war.”

Colwill then fled through a window.

He contacted police and Colwill, of Ottery St Mary, was arrested but made no comment.

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 her stalking had “worn me down”.

In a victim impact statement, Mr Pagliero said Colwill had been a “companion” and it was a “tonic and nice”.

But things soon changed and it became very traumatic.

Peter Seigne, defending, said: “This is a serious matter of stalking, particularly entering his property.”

Colwill, who qualified as a dental nurse in 2021, also faces potential disciplinary action from the General Dental Council, her solicitor told the court.

Colwill – who has one previous conviction for drink driving in 2020 – was also made the subject of a five-year restraining order banning her from contacting Mr Pagliero or going to his home or dental surgery.