On October 7, 2025, a 16-year-old girl alerted police to a man in his 30s who had repeatedly approached her and refused to leave her alone after she told him her age.
Officers from the Missing and Exploitation Unit then met with the victim and accompanied her to the bus stop the following morning, observing the scene from unmarked vehicles to catch the criminal.
Dariusz Sicinski, of Robertson Road in Cheltenham, arrived in his van, got out, and began to approach the victim – then officers intervened and arrested the 33-year-old.
In his police interview, he said: “When I went past, I saw her face, her hair and her body shape and I wanted to talk to her and meet her.”
After being charged with an offence, the defendant appeared in court on Wednesday, April 1, where he admitted stalking causing serious alarm and distress.
He has been released on bail and will be sentenced on Wednesday, May 6.
DC Niall Maidment from the Missing and Exploitation Unit said: “This was an escalating case of stalking involving a 16 year old girl who was repeatedly targeted as she tried to catch the bus to college, causing her significant fear and distress.
“The victim reported the matter to police promptly and… Sicinski was caught red-handed.
“We treat stalking and the targeting of young people with the utmost seriousness and will take decisive action to protect victims and bring offenders before the courts.
“Reducing and Preventing Violence Against Women and Girls is also one of the Chief’s three new priorities as of the beginning of April, and targeting stalking and harassment is a key feature of that.
“We would like to thank the victim for her courage in coming forward and for putting her trust and faith us to keep her safe.
“The MEU was launched in January this year with a focus on locating missing children, as well as to understand the push/pull factors that make children go missing.
“We work closely with partner agencies to try and prevent repeat missing episodes. We are also responsible for recognising and preventing child and adult exploitation, group-based offending, Com network offending and modern slavery and human trafficking.”
