A TIKTOK and Instagram influencer who stalked Ardrossan footballer Billy Gilmour has avoided prison.

Orla Melissa Sloan, 22, who called herself 'Devil Baby' on Instagram, stalked the Brighton star little more than a week after he transferred from Chelsea to the Seagulls in September last year.

Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard how Gilmour was left "unable to sleep" due to Sloan's stalking campaign - which he also said negatively impacted his performance on the pitch as well as his personal life.

Gilmour was one of three footballers targeted by the social media influencer - with the court also being told how Sloan bombarded Gimour's former Chelsea teammate Mason Mount with messages following a one-night stand, and harassed fellow Blues star Ben Chilwell.

Scotland midfielder Gilmour said her messages had a “huge impact” on his life, after he joined Brighton from Chelsea in September last year.

The court heard she first messaged him saying she thought they should be in a relationship but he did not want contact to continue and told her so.

The messages became more threatening and in one she said: "I will hunt you down, Orla x."

After she began messaging his friends and family including by saying: “This is very serious what Billy is doing to me.”

Some messages had religious references, and they became more “erratic” over time, the court heard.

She even messaged his aunt to tell her the footballer “is a bad, bad boy” and that “he slept with me and never, never spoke to me again".

In a victim impact statement, Gilmour said: “I have not been able to sleep and have had to take sleeping tablets.

“It’s had a negative effect on my performance and professional life.

“Being in a new town where I don’t have my friends or family, it’s really upsetting.”

Sloan also claimed to have fallen pregnant in allegations described at an earlier hearing as “completely fictitious”.

Gilmour added: “I don’t know who I can trust any more.

“Some of the information would only have been known by people close to me.”

Westminster Magistrates’ Court also heard how the 21-year-old Exeter woman had bombarded current Chelsea midfielder Mason Mount with messages over the course of four months after she slept with the England midfielder following at a party at his team-mate Chilwell’s home in November 2020.

Prosecutor Dmytro Palamarchuk said the pair remained in contact for around six months before Mount said he “did not intend to remain in contact” with her.

The prosecutor said: “The defendant went out and obtained 20 phone numbers which she used to keep bombarding Mason Mount with messages.

“Mason Mount kept blocking the phone numbers, but they simply kept coming.

“The nature of the messages would be quite random and erratic from the defendant.

“Initially the defendant implied that she just wanted to talk to Mason Mount…and that she will not bother him afterwards.

“Since he didn’t reply the messages became more and more menacing.”

In one she said “you and Ben will be destroyed, beware of Devil Baby Mason. I can morph at any second.”

The prosecutor said Sloan tagged the star in Instagram posts which included collages of photos of the player with other women.

She also called the player a “criminal” and “spread lies” about him to his friends and family, the court heard.

One message showed an Apple account buying a new number for £12.99 with the words: “I’m not buying food any more so I can get more numbers. I will be faster than you.”

Mount was “concerned she had an obsession or fixation with him and he didn’t know what she was capable of”, the court heard.

The court heard other messages were aimed at professional footballers, friends and family members, including left-back Chilwell, 26.

In mitigation, Sloan's lawyer Michael Cogan said his client had been “naive” in not realising any relationship with Mount was not going to progress, adding that she was remorseful and has not contacted them since.

He added: “There was, shortly after that party, certainly on the same evening, a short sexual relationship.

“Unfortunately Sloan thought there was rather more to it than that. She is…incredibly naive.

“She is addicted to social media. She has been sucked into a world where instant gratification is achieved only by being seen with rather more successful people.

“She is obsessed with the way she looks and how she thinks other people view her.”

Sloan had been warned she faced jail after admitting stalking Mount and Gilmour and causing harassment to Chilwell, at a hearing last month.

Chairwoman of the bench Alison Gowman said the influencer had engaged in “sustained and deliberate attempts to harass and stalk” the footballers - but she was spared prison.

Her 12-week prison term was suspended for 18 months and she must complete 30 rehabilitation days as well as 200 hours of unpaid work.

She must also pay Gilmour £500 and Mount and Chilwell £300 each - plus £85 costs and a £154 victim surcharge.

She was also banned from contacting the players for five years.