We have been left with no option but to write this blog as a last resort to get our side of the story out in the public domain to put the record straight. We have not taken this step lightly, putting our private information on this blog, but there are two sides to every story and it is about time our side was heard.
The only way we will accept comments on this blog is through the Contact Us form with Captcha. The reason for this is because our computer system has been hacked and is compromised and this not only eliminates trolls and spam, but gives us the location and IP address of those who wish to comment.
The instigator of our problems here in Spain is my ex-wife Jillian Durkin, who lives in Morecambe, Lancashire and it was her infidelity that led to the divorce. Since then my ex has never let go or moved on and has been very bitter and hate-filled for the past 25 years,. As you read you will see this isn’t because she cared for me, but is the loss of lifestyle, salary and company pension. She has been aided and abetted by my daughter who pretended to have a close relationship with us, and by my adult grandson who came out here and hacked our computer. Both have been heavily influenced by my ex’s controlling behaviour. Our life in Spain was excellent until the interference by my ex started.
As you read this blog you will see that since 1995 my ex has manipulated, funded, and instilled her hatred into third parties in the UK, to destroy Amanda’s secretarial career, slandered Amanda here in Spain and the United States, not only to try to destroy our marriage, but to destroy Amanda’s reputation and art career.
Amanda and I find it beyond belief that people have accepted a one-sided story without question and acted upon the lies that have been perpetrated by my ex, which has had an horrendous affect on our life. At no time has anyone had the decency to contact us to verify the statements that have been made, if they had done so, we would not be in the situation we are in today.
As you read this please bare in mind that Amanda and I have been together 25 years and married for 20 years.
This information ideally should all be one post, but due its size has to be done over several.
I met my ex-wife in Morecambe in 1965 and a few weeks later found out she was pregnant after a one night stand with another man. After she had given birth in February 1966 and the baby was four weeks old, as a naive nineteen year old, I married her, against both parent’s wishes, and legally adopted the child, Mark and brought him up as my son. In 1969 my ex and I had our own child, my daughter Joanne.
Mark had always been a problem child and in 1984 as an eighteen year old, he was rebellious and drinking heavily, His intolerable behaviour resulted in my ex giving an ultimatum, “It is either him or me”, so I had to find him a flat in Morecambe. Due to his problems he was never able to hold down a job and didn’t work for seventeen years.
In 1991 my ex had an affair with her best friend’s, Pam Povey’s husband (Charles Povey), Chas. Because of my ex’s affair we had to move from Morecambe to Longridge. My ex said she wanted to leave Morecambe because she was frightened Pam’s family might try to harm her. I have since been enlightened by Pam Povey that my ex was also entertaining other men. Below is Pam Povey’s email which we received on 1st September 2023. For clarity, Towers was the Cash and Carry in Morecambe where my ex worked with Pam Povey.
The move did not improve our relationship – the trust had gone. I admit that after this I had an affair which destroyed what little respect either of us had for one another.
I met Amanda at work in 1995 and started a relationship with her whilst I was living at my parent’s house in Morecambe.
My ex’s plan since 1995 has been to destroy Amanda’s secretarial career at BAE Systems, and as an artist here in Spain and to destroy our marriage.
In 1995 even though my ex was the one who ruined the marriage she wished Amanda “A long and painful death and hoped I sat and watched it”.
In 1995 when Amanda and I had just started living together, my ex wrote Amanda a letter which started at the very beginning in bold capitals, “MONEY MATTERS”, as she was well aware that with my financial commitments we were relying on Amanda’s salary to survive.
She then devised a plan to destroy Amanda’s secretarial career in the hopes of destroying our relationship.
To achieve her aim, she used her deceased father’s Freemasonry contacts with the BAE Systems Senior Management in the departments which Amanda worked, spreading serious lies and rumours.
In 1996 I started divorce proceedings. My ex said she did not want a divorce and said “I know you will marry her and I don’t want that bitch to have your name”.
1997 my ex started a relationship with my cousin Terry Durkin who also lived in Morecambe.
1998 my ex told my daughter that “Terry is okay but I wish it was your Dad”.
After much procrastination and the destruction of many lawyer’s letters by my ex, the divorce was finalised in April 1999. This was when things escalated in the department where Amanda worked,, which we believe was because the divorce had been finalised and my ex knew that I would soon ask Amanda to marry me.
By the end of June 1999 the Resources Department where Amanda worked was disbanded by the Site Director. Amanda as a Senior Secretary in Resources department achieved four consecutive yearly assessments of “commendable” and was in line to achieve “outstanding” which is the highest appraisal in BAE Systems. She also had a job description setting out her duties etc which was mandatory within the company. When the Resources department was disbanded, Amanda was assigned to a new manager in Works Services department. At the time of leaving the Resources Department, Amanda’s salary was £33,000 per annum. From this moment on, Amanda never received a job description which is contrary to company policy, nor did she receive a pay increment.
Within six months the Works Services Management team had been reorganised and new Managers were brought in from other sites.
Without consultation, Amanda was assigned to a newly promoted Facilities Manager whose previous experience of a Senior Management role was somewhat limited.
In July 1999 Amanda received monies from an insurance policy and sought financial advice, asking my boss Neville Davies if he would ask his financial advisor to talk to us.
We were surprised when a woman, Gillian Rhodes, came as we were expecting the man who Neville had recommended. Gillian Rhodes was married to Andrew Rhodes who eventually became the Chief Constable of Lancashire.
She gave very little financial advice but was insistent that Amanda joined her in September 1999 as a guest at the Oyster Festival.
At this afternoon event there was champagne etc, and it was suggested by Gillian Rhodes that they should spend the evening in Lytham St Annes, where she would introduce Amanda to “eligible bachelors”. Amanda found this offensive, immediately phoned me to collect her from the Oyster Festival as this seemed a put up job to interfere in our relationship. After this we never heard from her again and she never contacted Amanda with financial advice nor was there ever a bill.
We believe that this again was proof that since the decree absolute in April, that my ex was determined to ruin our relationship before I could propose marriage to Amanda.
In April 2000 Amanda and I got married. On returning to work from our honeymoon in May 2000, Amanda became aware of a change in attitude from her manager who became rude and controlling, monitoring her every move.
I was aware that something was very wrong as this working atmosphere was adversely affecting Amanda’s health. I told Amanda to resign as her health was more important but she continued because of the financial pressures it would have put us under as I was paying a considerable amount to my ex for the house at Longridge.
Boxing Day 2000
Mark and his partner and son came to us for Boxing Day. He told us that he had spoken to his Mother saying he was taking his son to see his Grandad and Granny Amanda, which caused an outburst in which she said “She is not the Grandma!”
It became obvious on this day that Mark’s alcoholism was out of hand as he drank 33 cans of beer and was still capable of standing upright. Unsurprisingly, in 2002 his partner and son left him due to his excessive drinking and bad behaviour.
In 2002 we discovered that my ex was in serious debt. This came about because Amanda applied for a Marks and Spencer credit card which was refused because of her credit rating. After investigation it turned out that this was because Amanda’s surname, Mrs Bilson, was on a blacklist as my name was still on the Longridge property which had serious debt attached to it.
My daughter told Amanda her Mother owed over 60,000 pounds. When asked how this had happened, my daughter said to Amanda “You don’t want to know”.
This was unbelievable considering the amount of the total monthly payment I had given her since 1995 to cover mortgage, utility bills and insurances.
In 2003 after three years of bullying and harassment Amanda sought medical advice and was signed off with Work Related Stress. Amanda’s secretarial career had been destroyed by my ex through the Freemasons by February 2003.
As per BAE Systems policy in 2003 whilst off work, Amanda invoked the Respect at Work policy which involved an independent assessment of how she had been treated, That policy was upheld which eventually led to legal proceedings, the findings of which we cannot disclose due to a confidentiality clause.
It is appalling to know that my son and daughter were aware that my ex was doing this to Amanda’s career and health, as Amanda was kind and loving to both of them and to the grandchildren.
My daughter we now know has been involved all along assisting her Mother’s agenda as she was frightened of losing her Mother’s financial assistance.
Mark was prone to phoning us when he was drunk, criticising us and everybody else for his own failings. On this occasion in 2004 whilst Amanda was still ill and stressed by the legal proceedings, Mark called and let out a load of verbal abuse against me. This type of behaviour was previously tolerated and ignored, but on this occasion it was the last straw and Amanda snapped and told him the truth about his parentage. Amanda cannot be blamed for telling Mark as he was cruel and disrespectful to both of us many times.
2004 after taking early retirement, Amanda and I moved to Spain. According to my daughter my ex asked “Is this move to Spain all done and dusted?” and when my daughter confirmed it, my ex was furious.
2005 we flew back to the UK for my Mother’s funeral. I told my daughter that due to my ex’s bitterness she was not welcome at the funeral. However, on the morning of the funeral my ex phoned my daughter and said she was turning up whether we liked it or not. A friend of ours observed my ex at the funeral and told Amanda that my ex never took her eyes off me. My daughter told Amanda the only reason my ex attended the funeral “was to see my Dad”.
October 2005 my daughter informed us that my ex had been cohabiting with Terry at the house in Longridge for which we were still paying the mortgage. Terry had sold his house in Morecambe and was living at Longridge full-time. We employed a family lawyer in the UK to achieve a clean break. He said that our previous lawyer had given us appalling legal advice with regards to the amount of maintenance money paid over the 9 year period. He said we should sue for incompetence as a woman with no dependant children should not have received that amount of money per month to remain in a three bedroom detached house for which she contributed zero funds. During that 9 year period my ex was paid between £1100 – £1500 per month, which covered the mortgage, utility bills, plus some disposable income, totaling nearly £135,000. This took the largest part of my monthly salary and only because of Amanda’s salary were we able to afford our monthly commitments.
The clean break was achieved and resulted in my ex getting the detached property at Longridge which sold in December 2007 for £220,000. It had an £80,000 mortgage giving her £140,000, plus she got insurance policies worth around £90,000. My daughter told me my ex was furious that we had achieved the clean break and was also very angry that she had not been able to get a third of my pension.
July 2006 we had to fly back to the UK to attend the funeral of my son Mark. His death came as no surprise as I told Amanda when I first met her in 1995, that the way he lived his life would mean that he would be dead before me. As stated previously, Mark was an alcoholic with many problems.
Early 2007 my ex married Terry and we thought this may be a turning point and that it would stop her bitterness, sadly it did not. My daughter told us that even though my ex had married Terry she was still bitter. She also told us that Terry and his daughter were unaware of my ex’s affair with Chas Povey and that she had warned my daughter to keep her mouth shut.
Summer 2007 we learnt that my ex had bought a static caravan in our old neighbourhood in the UK. There was no other reason she did this, other than to contact our old neighbours who had been to our house in Spain to house sit for us. My daughter was aware of this fact and must have passed this information on to my ex. I believe my ex bought the caravan to find out about our life in Spain, this was later confirmed by our neighbours. We were very perturbed by this as she had recently remarried, but this development proved that she was still obsessed and had not moved on and was going to such lengths to find out about our life.
Christmas 2007 my daughter told us they would be on their own at Christmas because my ex was going to Terry’s daughters house for Christmas Day. We invited my daughter and family out here and Amanda cashed in some shares and paid for all their flights. We had a lovely Christmas together.
June 2008 Terry, my ex’s husband sadly died and my daughter said her Mother was even more bitter than before. When my daughter was out here for her summer holiday she told us that Terry’s daughter Helen had fallen out with my ex because my ex was the sole beneficiary in Terry’s Will.
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Up until 2010 we thought we had a good relationship with my daughter and family but we now know that wasn’t true. (See attached thank you cards from 2005-2010).
After reading the thank you cards you can see that Amanda and I had a very good relationship with my daughter and family. On several occasions Amanda flew back to the UK at our expense to pick up my grandchildren and bring them to Spain for the whole of their summer holidays, giving my daughter and her husband a rest.
You will notice that my daughter mentions on a few of the cards that she is pleased Amanda and I are so happy and settled and that we deserve it. The reason she said this is because she knows her Mother has been hell bent on destroying our happiness. She also states that she is not going to miss a year of visiting us, even though her Mother gave her grief for doing so. In one card she states she would be happy if she was in Spain. This was sent in 2009, again proof of my ex’s bitterness which was beginning to take its toll on my daughter.
Since 2010, due to my ex’s influence, there has been very little communication from my daughter or her family. On two occasions in 2010 my ex, pretending to be my granddaughter Ellie, and unbeknown to Ellie used Ellie’s mobile to send text messages and calls to our Spanish mobile. This action showed that she was still obsessed with our lives and coupled with buying the caravan in 2007, we were very worried and reported this to the Stalking Helpline UK who advised us that on any return visits to the UK not to visit our old neighbourhood.
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2011 my ex moved back to Morecambe, near to where my daughter lives.
In August 2011 Amanda started an art blog and in 2012 joined an American website, Daily Paintworks, to advertise her art. She received, from both artists and collectors, very complimentary feedback. July 2012 a collector in Washington DC, Melissa Ferring, sent Amanda an email saying how much she loved her art and bought a few paintings.
It wasn’t until early 2017 that we found out that my ex had used the identity of a lady living in Morecambe, Ros Patterson, to pose as an artist, doing the same genre as Amanda. I deduced my ex was using the name Ros Patterson from her handwriting which was on an artwork online.
This is definitely my ex’s handwriting, even if Ros Patterson had allowed her name to be used, it is still my ex’s handwriting. When we discovered this information it made a lot of things fall into place. I had mentioned to my daughter in July 2012 that Melissa Ferring had sent Amanda an email saying how much she loved her art and that she had bought a few paintings. My daughter will have no doubt passed this information on to her mother. In November 2012 my ex created an account on painters online UK using the name Ros Patterson which enabled her to contact via the ’email the artist’ button, the artists on Daily Paintworks.
April 2013 Melissa Ferring bought her last painting from Amanda, but continued to keep in touch by email posing as a friend. This was the same month my daughter stopped talking to us altogether. The reason she was avoiding communication was because it was my Grandson Tom’s 21st in October 2013 and our attendance would have fuelled her mother’s bitterness and could have ruined the party. On Boxing Day 2000 Mark told us that “Joanne and I are dreading Tom’s 21st because my Mum is like a dog with a bone and will not let go”. At the time Tom’s 21st was 13 years away. He also told us that when he had told his mother on the phone that he was taking his son Alex to see “Grandad and Granny Amanda” she went ballistic and shouted down the phone “She is not the Grandma!”.
Two weeks after Tom’s 21st he rang us to thank us for the cheque and card we had sent him. He told us that he loved us and that he was about to leave home to go and live with friends in a flat in the centre of Morecambe. Again, I asked to speak to my daughter and he said she was out.
Boxing Day 2013 my daughter emailed saying she was sorry but with no explanation as to why she had ignored us for virtually two years. We knew the reason was due to her mother’s influence and in our reply we told her that we were very hurt and that we needed an explanation as to why she had not spoken to us for such a long time. Previously in 2011 I had warned my daughter not to let her mother destroy our good relationship, unfortunately to no avail. We never received a reply, so, a couple of days later we texted her asking if she wanted to talk, to which she replied “I am at work” and we never heard another thing.
We believe from April 2013 onwards my ex befriended Diane Hoeptner, an artist on Daily Paintworks, her husband Mike Hoeptner (Mike Miller), who we believe is a member of an organised crime network and Melissa Ferring who is also a friend of Diane Hoeptner. We believe my ex told these people various defamatory statements about Amanda. These include that Amanda has prevented me from seeing my Grandchildren (who are now 27 and 21 years old), has been unfaithful and has given me Hepatitis B, which is totally untrue and we have medical records to prove it, and has told certain individuals that she blames Amanda for my son’s death, which again is totally untrue.
After my ex’s mother’s death in January 2014, my ex as Ros Patterson joined Daily Paintworks in February until July 2014. She did this knowing that with her forthcoming inheritance (at least 40K in May 2014), she could continue the smear campaign, finance Mike Hoeptner (Mike Miller), allowing him to fund his contacts in Spain and to ingratiate herself by buying artwork from various artists on Daily Paintworks.
With hindsight, from July 2014, there were several people arriving at the flying club of which i was a member, wanting to specifically befriend and fly with me. I believe this network was orchestrated by Mike Hoeptner (Mike Miller) from Shaker Heights, Ohio, with funding from my ex. Mike Hoeptner (Mike Miller) speaks fluent Spanish and has numerous contacts in Spain.
September 2014 I emailed my daughter asking if she wanted to talk, to which she replied “I am all talked out”. I believe she did not want to talk because she was aware the smear campaign by her mother was ongoing and things had gone too far. She mentioned she was in the process of separating from her husband David. Concerned about the separation we contacted David to make sure he was okay. We invited him to visit us in Spain which he was very keen to do. My ex’s influence over the family was demonstrated by the fact that David (49 years old at the time and living an hour away in Preston), was too afraid to visit us because he told us my ex ‘had had a right go at him’ and that my daughter too would not like it.
In October 2014 Amanda asked David for my Grandson Tom’s address in Morecambe where he was living with his friends, so she could send a birthday card from us.
Tom had not communicated with us since 2010 apart from the telephone call in 2013 thanking us for the money we sent for his 21st birthday, to which we had not been invited. Amanda asked Tom on his birthday card to email us and let us know how he was getting on. Tom never emailed us although his father David confirmed he had received the card.
In June 2015 David asked if Tom could visit us in Spain. David said Tom was too embarrassed to ask us as he had not been in touch. We found it odd that Tom had not emailed us in October 2014 and that his mother and my ex were agreeing that Tom could visit after threatening his father. Nonetheless we said we would be happy to see him.
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Tom emailed us with a screenshot of his flights, 9th – 17th August 2015.
We checked the price of the Jet2 flight and it was £315 return. According to David, he also booked the Premier Inn at Manchester Airport the evening prior to his flight. This would have added a further £80 or so to his travel expenses, plus train fare. On his arrival Amanda asked Tom if he was still living with his friends in the centre of Morecambe. He said no he had been back home at my daughter’s for the past 6 weeks and therefore under the heavy influence of my ex.
On his arrival at our house and having no mobile phone with him, I suggested he rang his mother using our landline to tell her he had arrived safely. He declined using our landline and said “It’s okay I will contact her on my tablet”. In hindsight this proves from the first day he arrived my daughter had no intention of talking to us and his visit was to ‘divide and conquer’.
On the very first evening here Tom was moaning poverty, saying he had an overdraft and was only earning £8 an hour working at Lidl. He brought with him a brand new Samsung tablet which was nearly £400. He said he could not afford to buy the tablet outright so was paying £12.50 a month for it. Here he was with an overdraft, couldn’t afford a tablet and had just spent nearly £500 to come and see us. If Tom had booked his own flights why hide the cost of them in a screenshot? Why not forward the flight booking confirmation email and let us see that he had paid £315. I believe my ex paid for all his expenses and his Samsung tablet in exchange for him coming out to hack our computer to gain access to all our private information.
There were two reasons Tom was sent out on these specific dates to hack our computer for my ex and daughter.
One was to find out if I had changed my Spanish Will, as the 15th August 2015 was the last date on which British Expats could register their Wills under British Law, thus avoiding Spanish Inheritance Law. Under Spanish Law my daughter would have been able to earmark two thirds of our property here in Spain. Thankfully, I had changed my Will to abide by British Law but had I not done so, on my death, Amanda could have been forced to sell the property and two thirds of the proceeds would have gone to my daughter. After my ex got the amount of money and assets from the divorce settlement, it would have been extremely unfair for us to pay twice and catastrophic for Amanda to say the least.
Additionally the 11th August is the anniversary of when Amanda and I first started living together. We had said previously to our neighbour in the UK, that for our 20th anniversary we may go on a cruise and by sending Tom on these dates was a good way of finding out what we were doing.
Whilst Tom was here we received an email on the 13th August in our hotmail account saying that an account had been established in Amanda’s name – artlovingal@gmail.com. Neither Amanda nor I had created this account. Amanda told Tom that someone had created a false email account in her name, but he offered no help or advice, even though he has an A Level in IT and would therefore be aware of the dangers of spurious email links.
I took Tom for a couple of flights to see the local area but he appeared totally disinterested. Tom skyped his father to wish him a happy 50th birthday and during the conversation we heard David say, “I believe you have been flying and are now a pilot Tom?”. Amanda asked “How do you know David?” and he said Tom has put it all over Facebook. This totally surprised me because whilst in the passenger seat he didn’t seem at all interested and never said he had enjoyed the experience, so putting it all over Facebook as though he was thrilled was a complete shock. He was making out on Facebook he was bonding with me, his Grandfather, but he didn’t even want me to have his mobile telephone number.
Whilst here Tom was not very communicative and spent most of his time on his Samsung tablet. His attitude at times left a lot to be desired but not having seen him for five years, I just thought this was how he had turned out, especially since his mother and father in 2009 had expressed concerns about his behaviour and attitude. Amanda was concerned because of his demeanour and said she thought that there was an ulterior motive to his visit, but I said as he was family and just here for over a week we should tolerate it, which was a huge mistake.
Even though Tom had his own Samsung tablet, which he connected to our internet through our router, having given him the password, on at least two occasions I caught him using our PC.
Tom emailed us on his return as though it had been a perfect weeks holiday. My reply was polite and friendly, but I felt it had been a waste of time. He had not mentioned anything about my daughter wanting to speak to us or given any information on what had happened in their lives for the past five years. Also at this point, even though we thought his visit was suspicious, neither of us had a clue he had hacked our pc.
David Tom’s father kept in touch with us by email after Tom had returned home. He sent a couple of emails with regards to my Granddaughter Ellie’s A Level results, and again I replied in a friendly and polite manner but was very disappointed that it was David passing on this information and not my daughter. This confirmed my daughter was heavily influenced by my ex and that she had no intention of speaking to us.
After Tom’s visit we had serious problems with our computer. Icons were moving all over the place and we noticed even after we had changed our router password, that Tom’s Samsung tablet was still connected to our pc from the UK. Our concerns were warranted when the followers on Amanda’s Art Blog started dropping off. Our suspicions were further increased when on Saturday 12th September 2015 my Granddaughter Ellie tweeted that Tom was basking in his fame and she was lol ‘laughing out loud’.
In May 2016 Amanda noticed more followers had dropped off her blog so she decided to delete it.
July 2016 our computer spyware picked up two Rootkits on our system. We spoke to a computer forensic expert in London who said to install Rootkits someone needed physical access to our pc. We explained that Tom was the only person who besides Amanda and I had physical access and since his visit we had serious problems with our computer. The expert stated that it usually is a family member that does this to gain complete control of the pc and have access to all passwords and personal information. My ex after the hack would have had access to all our private information and all the email contacts from our old hotmail account and would therefore be able to email them to defame Amanda.
In August we applied for a bank loan for me to buy a share in an Ultralight aircraft. In September our bank agreed the loan and phoned us whilst we were at the Flying Club saying if we went immediately to sign the paperwork we would get the loan at the agreed 7.5%. We arrived at our bank 35 minutes later and the Deputy Manager said she had received a fax from Madrid saying the loan had now gone up to 9.5%. This 2% increase had been arranged within 35 minutes. We were totally shocked by this and no explanation for the increase was forthcoming. When we asked who had authorised this she said it was someone at Head Office in Madrid but would not give us a name. This highlighted that there definitely was interference going on in our lives which was confirmed when we received a card posted on the 28th September 2016 from Melissa Ferring, ‘Dream the Impossible Dream, Reach for the Unreachable Star’, which was only printed in England, proving my ex had sent this to Melissa for her to send to us.
It was only in late 2016, whilst looking at another artist’s blog, Amanda noticed her photo had been distorted.
Tom had changed Amanda’s photo before May 2016 and this then changed Amanda’s photo on every blog she had followed. After Amanda had deleted her blog in May 2016 Tom could not change it back.
10th December 2016 a couple arrived at our gate who said they were Jehovah’s Witnesses called John and Heather Allin. They said they had come from the Morecambe area of the UK to pioneer in Spain. Amanda and I have friends who are Jehovah’s Witnesses which my daughter and my ex knew. Having known the Jehovah’s Witnesses for years, the woman Heather, in particular displayed none of the characteristics of what we would deem a genuine Jehovah’s Witness. There was no religious talk or literature whatsoever and the woman was particularly interested in talking to Amanda asking very private questions about IVF and told Amanda that she herself had Hepatitis B. Amanda does not have Hepatitis B but I do, which I found out in 2009 and had told my daughter in the summer of 2009 whilst she was here on holiday. My daughter must have passed this information on to my ex. The doctor told me it is dormant and that I had contracted it over 20 years earlier. The IVF information was in a private personal file on our hacked windows pc. This confirmed our suspicions that Tom had definitely hacked our computer and my ex had gained all the personal information.
A similar incident occurred in early 2017 when we attended a church service for the first time on a Wednesday evening in Torrevieja, a 60km drive from where we live. The incident not only proves that we are being followed, but shows the lengths to which my ex is prepared to go to interfere in our lives. We were not known to anybody in this English congregation and yet a couple made a b-line for me and started up a conversation asking questions. Apparently they were visiting from the UK but had a home in France and said they had lived the majority of their life in Morecambe. They asked personal questions about Grandchildren and whether we were still in communication with them. Again the conversation with complete strangers had our alarm bells ringing and seriously concerned us to the level of stalking that is occurring.
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May 2017 Amanda sent an email to Melissa Ferring in which Amanda mentioned that it was good to be back in our air conditioned home.
Before replying to Amanda, Melissa Ferring forwarded the email to my ex, Diane Hoeptner, or both, which we believe gave Mike Hoeptner (Mike Miller) the idea of how to infiltrate our home to retrieve the hacked hard drive.
The forwarding of our email also gave Mike Hoeptner (Mike Miller) our IP address.
After our spyware picked up the Rootkits in 2016 we contacted forensic computer specialists in the UK, all of whom were helpful but very costly. We decided to look on the internet to find more affordable companies to compare prices. On the 1st June 2017 we contacted Digital Forensics Corp who we thought were a reputable company based in New York. We spoke to a man called Mike Miller who said he would send us discs which would enable us to trace the entry point of the Rootkits, so we agreed and sent the fee of $1,200.00
The money was sent by International Bank Transfer and only then on the paperwork did we notice that the Bank Account address was Beachwood, which is in Shaker Heights, Ohio and not, as we thought, an office in New York. This is when we began to connect all the dots because Amanda remembered that Diane Hoeptner is an artist on Daily Paintworks and lived in Shaker Heights, Ohio. Mike Miller who we believe is Mike Hoeptner also spoke to Amanda in fluent Spanish and also told us he had lots of contacts in Spain.
With regards to the smear campaign on Daily Paintworks he said that once he had an email and IP address he could get into anyone’s email account to gain their information.
Within 24 hours we cancelled the deal because Mike Miller instead of sending discs wanted to clone our computer which we obviously refused and demanded our money back. It took nearly a year to get most of our money back, during which he repeatedly stated that for him to return the money he needed our home address.
This made our alarm bells ring as our home address is not needed for an International Bank Transfer, which was confirmed by both our bank, RBS and his bank JP Morgan Chase, but he was adamant he needed it.
Mike Miller (Mike Hoeptner) would not return our funds by International Bank Transfer and wanted us first to sign paperwork releasing us from the deal and confirming we would not say anything detrimental against Digital Forensic Corp. He said he would not return our funds until we sign the paperwork. Not wanting to give our home address, we gave him the address of our accountant in Totana, so he could send the paperwork there. We now realise that he had hacked our computer and was able to see all correspondence in our Yahoo email account, thus he knew when and where we were visiting our accountant to collect the paperwork. After collecting the paperwork on the return journey home we were followed, which we now believe was by contacts of Mike Miller (Mike Hoeptner). This is how they found our home address and were then able to access our property to interfere with the exterior air conditioning unit.
When our air conditioning broke down in August, the engineers who came to fix it failed to do so and were seen to be taking photos of our computers and the house interior. They spent at least four hours trying to supposedly repair the equipment yet we never received a bill. Not long after the air conditioning engineers visit, our house was entered whilst we were out in an effort to find the hacked hard drive. Nothing was taken but the remote controls for the internal air conditioning units had been removed from their holders and placed in the outside swimming pool bathroom, letting us know that someone had been in our house.
On further investigation I subsequently found out, using a VPN to look at Truthfinder that Mike Hoeptner has a criminal record. We also viewed Diane Hoeptner’s background report which showed she has a sister called Deborah Miller, hence Mike Hoeptner used the alias Miller. Since downloading Mike Hoeptner’s background report, which proved he lived in Shaker Heights, Ohio before moving to Willoughby, Ohio in 2017 the information regarding Shaker Heights address has been doctored. It now gives the impression that Mike Hoeptner’s previous address was in Olmsted Falls and not Shaker Heights. Diane Hoeptner has also changed her previous address record. This information can be verified on Instant Checkmate.
During our efforts to retrieve our money, we examined Digital Forensic Corp records in more detail and found that several of the employees have criminal records and it is a scam. By looking at Digital Forensic Corp on the Ohio Better Business Bureau there are numerous complaints of these scams involving substantial amounts of money.
Since my ex befriended Diane and Mike Hoeptner and Melissa Ferring in 2013 they have not only smeared Amanda on Daily Paintworks, but have severe hatred towards her fuelled by my ex. As stated earlier Melissa Ferring, posing as a friend has been working for my ex all along. In September 2017 she sent a card depicting a coffin.
Amanda for some time, had suspected that Melissa Ferring may not be a genuine friend and after receiving this card limited contact even further. In 2018 Melissa Ferring sent another card which we returned, by courier, unopened. It had to be signed for on receipt. We did this so she would understand Amanda wanted no further contact. Melissa Ferring never queried why the card had been returned unopened, but then sent, in 2019, for Amanda’s 50th in the last week of March, a card depicting a graveyard which was posted on the 28th February, my deceased son’s birthday.
There have been other instances when she has emailed on specific dates relevant to the family and our anniversaries.
These cards were not only sent to frighten Amanda but show intent to harm her. With hindsight there has been at least two occasions in the past when Mike Hoeptner’s (Mike Miller) network contacts here in Spain, have attempted to lure us into situations where, had we gone along with the invites, I am certain Amanda would have ended up dead.
I was a member of Aeroclub Totana from 2012 unti 2017. Initially there was a pleasant and convivial atmosphere which noticeably deteriorated in the last two years with the arrival of visitors who did not display the characteristics of aviators. Whilst at the flying club personal property of Amanda’s was damaged, a camera and sunglasses, by the Instructor’s girlfriend, when left in the outside cafe area. It was odd that as Costawings, their business Facebook page, she befriended an old colleague of mine in Australia. He used to work for me and had liked Amanda’s Facebook page. I believe the reason she befriended him was to smear Amanda for my ex.
From July 2014 onwards we have been followed both on foot and in the car, at times with drivers making gestures in a threatening manner.
Since we have had dealings with Mike Hoeptner (Mike Miller), who had our Yahoo email address from the 1st June 2017, post addressed to Amanda has been interfered with. In August 2017 Amanda bought two paintings off an artist on Daily Paintworks, using our Yahoo email address. On the 1st September she received paperwork from the Post Office saying she had 7 days to fill out the attached paperwork requesting more information. The first request was for her NIE number which we supplied. Then a second request asked for more paperwork to be filled out, which in hindsight was one of several attempts to gain Amanda’s passport information. The passport information could then have been used by these criminals to steal Amanda’s identity and cause us severe problems in trying to rectify any damage that could have been done. We subsequently found out that the Post Office allows 20 days in which to reply to their requests which shows that there has been interference by Mike Hoeptner’s contacts in Madrid. Amanda to this day has never received the two paintings.
Since connecting all the dots in September 2017 that Mike Miller is Mike Hoeptner, this is when the stalking and harassment increased and became really overt. This was the point which I believe Amanda’s name was put on a ‘Watchlist’ and she became what is known as a ‘Targeted Individual’. See attached link www.targeted-individuals.com and look at notifications and watchlists. As stated under notifications, once a person is flagged on the system, neighbours and all government departments are informed. This is a very real system that is in place, and had I not witnessed it myself, would never have believed such a system existed, but it most certainly does. The majority of Targeted Individuals have no idea who is behind their name being added to a Watchlist, but we know why and still cannot get any help.
From this point onwards CCTV footage from our home security system, which would have proved our concerns regarding air conditioning engineers and trespassers on our property, has been deleted, mobile phone messages have been deleted. All this since Mike Hoeptner (Mike Miller) had our Yahoo email account and IP address. Our computer has been hacked with a browser key-logger, form grabbing software, false pages and blocked searches.
Adverts appeared on Amanda’s tablet which did not appear on my tablet when I looked at the same website page. Two of these adverts were sent after trying to get help from lawyers, Brutal Proof Desire Justice and Foreverspin.
The other two adverts, both in Spanish, were personal and threatening, specifically directed at Amanda, one of which proved Mike Hoeptner (Mike Miller) has believed my ex’s lies about Hepatitis B by sending a Durex advert. The other threatened Amanda by indicating at some time in the future she would be kneecapped. This is another reason she is terrified of leaving our home.
Our internet engineer confirmed we have a serious advanced hack and everything we search for goes to the USA first before we see it, a ‘Man in the Browser’ (MITB) attack. This is Trojan malware which has infected our internet browsers, meaning everything is being intercepted before it returns to our PC. We have bought new computers hoping this would solve the problem, but it is such an advanced hack it is very difficult to remove. The engineer promised us a written report but he was too frightened to return to our home and said to contact the management of the company. The CEO of the company confirmed this was an advanced hack and arranged a time to come to our home and then he too was frightened off and has become un-contactable.
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We have tried to resolve this situation ourselves and reported it to the British Consul in Alicante. They said they believed us and were sympathetic and suggested we contact a criminal lawyer to pursue the matter. This was because one of the contacts in our hacked hotmail account, which we believe my ex has contacted, is in a relationship with a Spanish National Police Officer, which meant reporting to the police would have little effect. They gave us a list of English speaking lawyers in the area including the firm used by the Consulate. I have contacted four of the firms on the list, each at first were interested but within a short period of time were unwilling to help. The Consul staff said the next thing that usually happens is that they are notified you have been arrested on some ‘trumped up’ charge. Neither Amanda nor I have a criminal record nor have we ever been in trouble with the police.
We contacted a reputable criminal lawyer in the UK who listened and was initially interested, but on mentioning that the three air conditioning remotes had been moved outside by unknown persons, she said “I don’t think I can help you at all”. I tried to contact her four times and her secretary said she would get her to call me back, she never did.
In addition we recently contacted the owners of Daily Paintworks, David and Carol Marine. Whilst they said that this has never been on their radar, 5 years and 4 months, from March 2013 until July 2018, the period that Amanda was a member, has been deleted from Daily Paintworks Facebook page. David Marine says he never deleted this from his Facebook page and that on further research this is Facebook behaviour. It is a chunk in the middle of all the Facebook posts on Daily Paintworks. He emailed me a Dropbox file of the missing 5 years and 4 months and said that there are no comments in this period, “for some reason”. Couple this with the fact that David Marine admits he has not retained any emails from the ’email the artist’ button between all the artists on Daily Paintworks since before 2018, in my opinion, shows the size of the ‘behind the scenes’ smear campaign. For all this information to have been deleted and not available is very suspicious. See attached emails where I asked David Marine to pass on all emails and attachments to the FBI.
I asked David Marine for Ros Patterson’s Paypal details that she would have had to use when subscribing to his site. You have to use Paypal to be a member. He said there is no physical postal address with her account at the time, which again is extremely odd as we thought it is a pre-requisite of Paypal to give a postal address.
My ex has hated Amanda since 1995 when she wished her ‘a long and painful death’. She has now instilled that hatred in Melissa Ferring, Diane Hoeptner, Mike Hoeptner and we believe others that were on Daily Paintworks, and the people who had infiltrated the Flying Club.
There is an ongoing campaign of hatred and interference in our lives, especially against Amanda to the point where I fear for her life. The cards from Melissa Ferring have had a devastating affect on my wife to the extent that she is terrified of leaving our house, she has not been out more than 5 times in the last 3 years. It is only through faith in God, exercise, meditation and a strong will that Amanda has coped with this ongoing situation.
Tom’s actions, instigated by my ex, has had horrendous consequences culminating in Amanda’s name being placed on a Watchlist. From 2013 everything that has happened has been orchestrated by Mike Hoeptner and his criminal associates in Spain, funded by my ex, breaking into our home to search, locate and remove the hard drive to erase the evidence of Tom’s criminal activity. The hacking of our computers was to ensure, should we search for a forensic expert, they would know who and where.
I am totally disgusted with my daughter and Tom as Amanda has been nothing but loving and kind to all of them. I overruled Amanda when Tom was here in August 2015, when she said he is not even making conversation and there is an ulterior motive for his visit, but I never dreamed that my adult grandson was capable of such a thing, but I was wrong. To do that not just to Amanda, but to me as her father and his grandfather is despicable.
Melissa Ferring’s actions have not only had a psychological affect by sending those cards, her forwarding the email with the air conditioning information, has culminated in equipment worth a few thousand euros being ruined.
It is obvious after 25 years, from the lengths my ex is going to, she is not going to stop. Add to the fact that we believe Mike Hoeptner (Mike Miller) is a member of a serious organised crime network and is aware that we have connected all the dots, makes the situation even more dangerous.
All the information on this blog has been reported to Lancashire Police as Hate Crime, as the main culprit, my ex, lives in the UK. Even with all the evidence, we still have not received any positive action, but this came as no surprise after reading the Targeted Individuals website.
By publishing this blog should anything happen to either of us, numerous people will now be aware of who and what is behind it.
We want our life back. I want Amanda to have her life back. She has done nothing wrong. Because we have connected all the dots and Mike Hoeptner and his criminal network have been caught out, her name has been put on a Watchlist to ensure that we are isolated from receiving any help.
We want this stalking, harassment and interference, which is mainly aimed at Amanda to stop. Should the intimidation and interference continue we will be updating this blog with the events and photos of those involved.
As stated earlier as a Targeted Individual on a Watchlist, once the notifications are sent out, all neighbours and authorities are informed to make life as difficult as possible and not to help the person involved. Moving house is a complete waste of time as the harassment will continue at the new residence.
In July 2019 our neighbour, Alberto, put his father’s house up for sale and placed a small for sale sign (Se Vende) in the corner of a window which was not clearly visible from the street.
Normally signs are put on the main gate of a property for maximum exposure when selling to the general public.
We were concerned that this was part of a plan to disrupt our peaceful lives as apparently the prospective buyer was buying it for their son who was a 20 year old student. The house was totally unsuitable for such a young person and would require considerable reformation. I gave the details to my accountant to keep on file as we explained to him that we thought this was part of the ongoing interference by my ex. It had previously been agreed in writing with Alberto that before he sold the house to anyone he would have the 60ft pine trees, which overhang our property, professionally cut.
As it turned out the sale had only been a verbal agreement and no deposit paid, so it did not go ahead. The email telling us of the sale has since been mysteriously deleted from our Yahoo email account.
We noticed in the middle of May this year that the tiny for sale sign in the window had been removed and we thought that selling the house had been abandoned.
On Saturday 27th June 2020 we saw Alberto showing a group of people around the house. Whilst talking to Alberto we informed the prospective buyers that there was an agreement to cut the pine trees before any house sale. Alberto indicated to them not to worry as once they moved in they could do what they liked. It appeared that Alberto was about to break our agreement so I contacted a lawyer to make them aware of the problem in case nothing was done about the trees. Alberto told us that the prospective buyers were relations of the neighbour Cesar, who lives at the top of the street. Alberto said “Nothing is guaranteed and it will take at least a month for them to obtain the mortgage and complete the necessary paperwork”. However, that same afternoon these prospective buyers had been given the keys to the property and had commenced renovation work which has now gone on for the past three months. Alberto confirmed by email that this was a private sale and it had not been notarised nor had the name of the new owner been registered with the Land Registry, which is a legal requirement in Spain. Who hands over house keys to potential buyers when a sale has not yet gone through or been legally completed?
This was also confirmed by the new neighbour, Mariano, who supposedly ‘owns’ the property and who said the legal paperwork for transfer of ownership would only be completed at the end of August. In the meantime he has continued to reform the property which he doesn’t own.
It is obvious that pressure has been put on Alberto to allow these people to move as fast as they have and I feel that there is an ulterior motive and I am even more worried for Amanda’s safety.
Previously Alberto had told us a story about his Mother being robbed of her jewellery in her apartment in Alcantarilla. He said she had been sprayed in the face which had incapacitated her and that her jewellery had been stolen as she was unable to move or speak. According to Alberto the criminals had come 70km from Alicante and were members of an organised crime gang which was part of the Ndrangheta. Knowing Alberto’s Mother and the situation of the apartment we thought the story was very far fetched but then it dawned on us he was giving us a warning. It was confirmed when he told Amanda that this was an organised crime carried out by the Ndrangheta. We had to ask him to explain what the Ndrangheta was and his reply was “Mafia”. Later he bought us pepper spray which he had purchased in Almeria which is over 100km outside the Murcia region. He warned us to be vigilant and to carry the pepper spray and take a baseball bat when walking the dogs in the countryside at the back of our house.
We are very concerned that this is not a genuine property sale and it has been organised by Mike Miller’s (Mike Hoeptner’s) criminal contacts as part of the Ndrangheta in Spain.
In early July after some over the wall discussions with Mariano the new neighbour, he presented us with an estimate for our share in the removal of the pine trees. The estimate had been given to him by Alberto to pass on to us. Mariano said the cost was 6000 euros which was to be shared between Alberto, Mariano and ourselves.
We then contacted a lawyer Jessica Martinez at Abaco Advisers and asked her to put in a formal denuncia to the Town Hall as we had no intention of paying for the removal of Alberto’s trees which were causing damage to our property. I also mentioned that there was more to what was going on than just the pine trees and that there is a much bigger issue involving criminal interference in our lives. She agreed that it was not our responsibility to pay for the trees but did not acknowledge the bigger issue. Alberto then informed us by email that he had got permission to cut the trees, so we put a hold on the denuncia awaiting Alberto’s and the new neighbours actions. Thankfully the threat of the denuncia worked and the trees have been cut without any cost to us.
The neighbour and workmen have worked continually renovating the property since 27th June. Initially they flattened the land and built the swimming pool and then a contractor removed the pine trees.
To maintain our privacy, because they have constructed a very large metal gazebo adjacent to our adjoining wall and overlooking our lounge, Mariano asked Amanda if we wanted to increase the height of the adjoining wall so that she would not feel intimidated.
We would have preferred to use our own builder who we have known for many years but after initial contact in June when we asked him for an estimate for another job, which he agreed to do, he was then frightened off and now does not return our calls.
We then asked Mariano to get a written estimate and he said he would have to ask his boss (pregunta mi jefe) which he has said on several occasions and gives a very clear indication that he has to ask permission from higher authority before he can do any work and this indicates that he is not the owner of the property.
A verbal estimate for the wall was given by the company renovating the property, Sercoal, which was for 6900 euros – 3450 for us and the same for the new neighbour, which was absolutely ridiculous. We priced the materials and man hours and estimated that our share of the wall with tax would cost 2500 euros which is the amount we have paid. It was only after I showed Mariano how annoyed I was and proved to him that the estimate was extortionate that he agreed to accept my figures. This is the attitude of the new people next door and their intentions, if we had been gullible enough, to fleece us. There definitely is an agenda and we feel this man and his family have been employed by this network to disrupt our lives.
We will keep updating this blog as and when necessary.
As the smear campaign was done behind the scenes on the Daily Paintworks site, out of courtesy we telephoned the Marines to make them aware of our situation and to warn them that we were about to publish a blog in which Daily Paintworks would feature. We explained that we would have to mention Mike Miller (Mike Hoeptner) and told them he is a member of an organised crime network and once he has anyone’s email and IP address he can infiltrate their computers and cause havoc in their lives, which could be detrimental to their business.
After the phone call there was further correspondence by email in which I asked David Marine to pass all our information over to the FBI and in his reply he said, “As horrible as this situation is, it is between you, your ex-wife, your grandson and the other people”, which did nothing to help our situation. Despite their denial, we do not believe that the Marines had no knowledge about what had gone on on their Daily Paintworks site. Why else would 5 years and 4 months have been deleted from the middle of their Facebook Business Page postings, when it corresponded to the time Amanda was a member of Daily Paintworks? We do not believe, as David Marine said, that this is Facebook behaviour. In addition David Marine has not kept emails between all the artists, via the ’email the artist’ button, from before 2018 and says that the Dropbox file of 5 years and 4 months has no comments “for some reason”. To us this smacks of destroying evidence that would have proved a smear campaign had taken place on Daily Paintworks.
David and Carol Marine as owners of Daily Paintworks have not taken any responsibility for the fact that this happened on their site, nor have they offered any help in taking this to law enforcement. Surely, when artists pay $12.50 per month they are entitled to some protection that if a smear campaign has occurred the Marines would investigate and take the necessary legal action against the person/persons involved.
As I told David Marine that if Amanda had never joined Daily Paintworks this would never have happened.
We want our life back to normal and our situation can be resolved very quickly when someone proves, with the bank details we received from Mike Miller, that it is Mike Hoeptner’s account (which we are convinced it is), and for him to explain why he needed our home address here in Spain.
These are the things that have happened since the beginning of this year. Mike Hoeptner is still using his network to harass, using our new neighbour who is still causing us problems by doing things to try to disturb and antagonise us.
On completion of the adjoining wall the neighbour Mariano reneged on an agreement to build and paint the adjoining wall. Having built the wall he refused to paint it, so we were left with no alternative but to paint our own side of the wall. This we did which was no easy task as the wall is 4 metres high and 75 metres long. Whilst doing this, the wind blew paint spray onto two cars parked next to his side of the wall. We did not know the cars were there. Both vehicles were lightly speckled with the emulsion paint. As soon as he made us aware of the problem we stopped spraying and used a paint brush to complete the job. We apologised and offered to pay for the cars to be cleaned but he did not take us up on our offer.
Sometime later our neighbour sprayed his side of the wall and as you will see from the video and photos, he deliberately sprayed white paint onto our cream wall, and our wall lamps. He blatantly used the spray so that our driveway and tiling were covered in white paint as were the windows of an outbuilding.
On Saturday 17th April he had installed CCTV Surveillance cameras on the side of his house, one of which deliberately points directly into our property covering the whole of our pool area from the house to our main gate. This camera is a tracking surveillance camera with motion sensors. Consequently as soon as we leave our house he is alerted on his mobile phone to our movements. Not only that, but he can control the camera using his phone to follow us and I am sure it will have sound and zoom features. This is obviously a total breach of our privacy and is illegal under Spanish law.
On Tuesday we politely asked him to lower the camera down the wall by at least one metre so that it cannot look into our property. He agreed to do this but as yet the camera is still operating in the same position. In return he asked us to move one of our cameras which he thought might overlook his property,. We did this immediately but infact our camera was only looking down our drive along the adjoining wall not looking directly into his property.
We hope this weekend he will reposition his intrusive camera but if not we will be forced to take legal action. We will update this blog as and when necessary.
