Woman obsessed with EastEnders’ Ellie Dadd jailed after ‘deeply scary’ behaviour

Ellie Dadd was targeted by an ‘obsessed’ young woman (Picture: Anthony Harvey/Shutterstock)

EastEnders star Ellie Dadd’s stalker has been jailed for 18 months after a terrifying campaign of harassment, and was warned by the judge that further prison time would be inevitable if she continued her obsession.

Cora Upple developed a twisted fascination with Ellie, who plays the role of Amy Mitchell in the BBC One soap and, in 2023, relentlessly sent her hundreds of social media messages and tagged her in a multitude of stories.

Ellie, who joined EastEnders in 2022 after having previously starred in Silent Witness and a West End production of Matilda, said that she felt ‘threatened’ and begged for help from the police, wanting the matter to stop, and Upple was slapped with a five-year restraining order.

In November 2024, the restraining order was updated with much tighter conditions following further stalking, and Upple was handed a nine-month prison term suspended for 15 months by magistrates.

Upple went on to target Ellie’s mother Nicole Gibberd on social media last year, prior to a second arrest. Upple had sent a friend request to Nicole, which was reported to the police and a month later, Upple used another account to follow Nicole’s Instagram account.

Upon arrest, Upple first declared that the friend request was an accident, although she later claimed that her actions were a result of ‘impluse’ and her desire to apologise.

Upple’s sentencing

The 21 year old was desperate for the ordeal to stop (Picture: John Phillips/Getty Images for the NTA’s)

At her latest sentencing, Ellie provided a victim impact statement, though Judge Lee Harris declined to have it read aloud in court at risk of it providing ‘some level of comfort, excitement or encouragement’ to Upple. Judge Harris also was vocal in his belief that Upple, who was considered by the probation service to pose a high risk of serious harm, could go on to reoffend and declared a custodial sentence appropriate for the case.

Speaking directly to Upple, who appeared via prison video link, he said: ‘You are obsessed with Ellie Dadd, an actress in EastEnders. Because of your obsession, a restraining order was granted against you in 2023. You breached that in 2024, and a further restraining order was issued, which extended the scope of the original order. You also received a suspended sentence order.

‘On May 10, 2025, Nicola Gibberd, Ellie Dadd’s mother, received a follow request from you. That was reported to police. On June 9, 2025, Ms Gibberd’s Instagram account was followed by you. Both of those were in breach of your [court] order.

‘You denied the offences, saying the follows were accidental. Well, they weren’t, and you now say you were doing it impulsively to try and apologise.’

The judge decided not to have Dadd’s victim impact statement read out in court (Picture: David Fisher/Shutterstock)

‘Your offences are very significantly aggravated by your previous convictions. You also have a history of disobeying court orders. I also take into account the impact on family members, as it was Ms Gibberd who received this contact.

‘I accept you are expressing remorse, but bearing in mind your history and the assessment by the probation service of your future risk, I am slightly sceptical, although I accept as much as I can that your remorse is as you say it is.”

Judge Harris then gave Upple a grave warning about continuing her behaviour.

‘Cora Upple, you need to know this. Ellie Dadd is not your friend. She is not going to be your friend. She doesn’t want to be your friend. You don’t know her. She doesn’t know you. I see you nodding, but I don’t think you really accept it.’

When Upple confirmed verbally that she understood, he continued: ‘You need to accept that and get used to it. Behaviour such as yours is deeply scary for those who are subjected to it, particularly when there is repeat offending, and they feel they cannot get rid of it.

Judge Harris warned Upple of what may happen should she continue to offend (Picture: Mike Marsland/Wire Image)

‘You need to get it into your head that you are not going to be friends with Ellie Dadd. I hope what I have said has had some force, but I doubt it has. I am worried about your future behaviour. I’m worried the pre-sentence report writer says you present a high risk of reoffending in respect of Ellie Dadd and have a high risk of causing serious harm to her.

Judge Harris then sentenced Upple to 63 weeks imprisonment for the restraining order breaches and an additional 18 weeks consecutive for the SSO breach. He also extended the existing restraining order to March 2031.

Following the sentencing, Investigating officer, PC Sophie Lawrie said ‘Upple has targeted her victim for years, repeatedly contacting and harassing her and her family through multiple different social media profiles.

‘This repeated and unwanted behaviour has had an untold effect on her victim, and we hope that this outcome will enable her to move on with her life without the fear of being contacted again.

‘Harassment can take many different forms, and I would urge anyone who feels they are being targeted to come forward and report it.’

Metro has contacted Ellie Dadd’s representative for a comment.

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