Growing up in a row home in Northeast Philly, our neighbors were practically on top of us. We were an integral part of each other’s lives, especially in the summers when the whole neighborhood would hang out on their porches watching the kids play in the street. A lot of us had keys (or knew where keys were) to each other’s houses in case of an emergency. Although, of course, there were a few we all side-eyed, for the most part, our block was a loving one filled with great families we could trust.
Neighbors are supposed to be like found family and a community you can rely on, so if they betray that trust, it can be extremely devastating or, in the case of one UK grandma, downright terrifying.
Debbie Wearing trusted her neighbor, William Nolan, and his wife with a key to her home so they could feed her cats while she was away in 2020.
The LAD Bible reported that Wearing went on her trip in March of 2020, and in November of the same year, she found a small device taped to the bottom of the table while eating dinner. Although she initially believed it was one of her grandson’s toys, a bit of research quickly revealed it was actually a recording device.
She swept the rest of the home and found another behind the headboard in the bedroom, per LAD Bible. Although Wearing contacted the police, she needed more evidence of the two unlawfully entering her home. So, she set up her own secret security cameras and told his wife she was heading out for a bit.
About 30 minutes into her departure, cameras caught Nolan frantically searching for his devices.
The grandmother said Nolan began coming around after her husband died in 2019. In 2021, Nolan pleaded guilty to stalking and was sentenced. He died in 2024, but Wearing said she really didn’t find peace until she moved.
“When I found the spyware, I felt totally violated. Bill’s trade was CCTV and security and things like that so that was also worrying,” she told The Sun. “I felt uncomfortable putting my underwear out in the garden, just the thought of him watching. I had to move house, I didn’t feel comfortable in my own home anymore. I think he should have served longer in jail; he only served eight weeks. But what he did was awful; it was so intrusive.”
She went on to say she believed he was a nice and polite man whom she felt she could trust.
“To this day, I still don’t know why he did it,” Wearing added, per The Sun. “For me, for somebody to put a recording device on your headboard, there’s only one reason why they want to do that, and that’s a sexual reason – something only a perv would do. You can’t trust strangers, and my story goes to show sometimes you can’t trust the people around you.”
Sadly, Wearing’s story isn’t all that uncommon.
According to the Stalking Prevention, Awareness and Resource Center, about 13.5 million adults in the US are victims of stalking annually, with more than half of all victims experiencing stalking before age 25. The organization notes that victims are often stalked by someone they know, with 42% claiming their stalker was an acquaintance.
If you or someone you know has been the victim of stalking, you can find help and support at DVIS.org, the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or by contacting your local women’s shelter (domesticshelters.org).
