Murdered teenager Shana Grice told police she was being ‘stalked’ by ‘obsessed’ local man, friends claim
Police discovered her body after she failed to turn up to work
A MURDERED teenager had told police she was being stalked, friends have claimed.
They say Shana Grice, 19, “feared for her life” before she was found dead in her flat on Thursday.
She complained to cops two weeks earlier about being stalked by local man Mike Lane, those close to her said.
They claimed she met him in their local pub and he became “obsessed” and “infatuated” with her.
Shana, who had a boyfriend of three-and-a-half years, called the police when she spotted Mike sat in his car watching her Brighton home, one friend said.
The pal added: “It absolutely breaks my heart because I remember her saying she feared for her life, which I just laughed off.
“She said the police didn’t have enough evidence to do anything.
“She told them how worried she was but they did nothing.”
Cops were alerted when Shana did not turn up for her job in an accounts department. They found smoke alarms going off at her flat before discovering her body.
A cause of death has not been given, but it is believed she was stabbed and the flat set on fire. The case has been referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission.
A 27-year-old man arrested on suspicion of murder on Thursday is still being quizzed by cops. Sussex
Police have refused to comment on whether Shana knew the suspect.
Distraught boyfriend Ashley Cooke, 21, revealed they planned to start a family next year and said: “Shana was the nicest person you could ever wish to meet.”
Parents Sharon Grice and Richard Green were grief-stricken over “our beautiful girl”.