Can I Tell You a Secret: Where is cyber stalker Matthew Hardy now?

This documentary kept me awake for days

9 months ago

Netflix’s new true-crime documentary Can I Tell You a Secret? tells the terrifying true story of the women who were relentlessly harassed by the UK’s most prolific serial cyber stalker: Matthew Hardy.

The two-part documentary hears from a small number of Matthew’s hundreds of targets who were sent vile and bullying messages by fake profiles, which ruined their relationships and left them fearful for their lives.

So, in case you can’t get the terrifying show out of your head either, here’s what happened to Matthew Hardy after he evaded police capture for over a decade:

So, what happened to Matthew Hardy and where is he now?

Credit: Cheshire Police

Over a decade, Matthew was arrested 10 times his harassment and cyber stalking of women. One police force alone was contacted over 100 times about Matthews behaviour by 62 different victims. Still, he did not go to jail until 2022.

After Matthew had been sentenced to nine years in October 2022, his sentence was reduced for being “too severe”. His lawyers argued he couldn’t full understand his behaviour and the harm he was causing because of his Asperger’s and autism.

However, Justice McGowan said the original judge had already taken Hardy’s neurodivergence into account at the first sentencing. Still, Matthews sentence was reduced to eight years and he’s currently serving time in a category B prison.

What are Matthew Hardy’s plans when he’s released from prison?

When Matthew’s mum, Donna Hardy, went on The Guardian’s Can I Tell You a Secret? podcast in September 2022, she said he plans on staying off of social media when he’s eventually released from prison in 2030 – or before.