POLICE did not take any further action against Shana Grice’s stalker on at least three occasions, the trial heard.

And after one incident officers even issued her with a fine for wasting police time.

She met Michael Lane in 2015 and they started an affair.

She first reported Lane for stalking on February 8 last year, after her tyres were slashed.

Her long-term boyfriend Ashley Cooke’s car was also damaged and he found a note on the windscreen which said: “Dear Ash, Shana has and always will cheat on you. Happy New Year.”

The court heard how she had seen him outside her home and her parent’s house and he had sent her flowers. She was “fearful of what he might do”.

An officer spoke with Lane and warned him to stay away from her.

On March 24, Lane pulled her hair and tried to grab her phone after a row and she reported this to police.

But the following day she was handed a fixed penalty notice for wasting police time for failing to disclose they were in a relationship.

No further action was taken against Lane.

The Argus: Michael LaneMichael Lane Michael Lane

In June the pair began a relationship after she split up with Mr Cooke in April but this only lasted six weeks and she decided to rekindle her previous romance.

On July 8 he stole her back door key after going to her house to collect his belongings. The next morning he crept into her bedroom while she pretended to sleep. She could hear him breathing.

She watched from the window as he left and called police.

She later confronted him on the phone and recorded the conversation in an effort to prove her case.

When Lane returned the key that afternoon he was arrested and cautioned by police.

But the next day Miss Grice received seven phone calls from a withheld number with no speech but heavy breathing. When she reported this no further action was taken.

On July 12, she was followed by Lane in a car along Old Shoreham Road but no further action was taken.

The teenager feared police “would not believe her” if she told them her ex-boyfriend was still stalking her, Lewes Crown Court was told.

The Argus: Ashley Cook was in a relationship with Shana GriceAshley Cook was in a relationship with Shana Grice Ashley Cook was in a relationship with Shana Grice

Miss Grice told friend Joann Pumfrey she was reluctant to report Lane’s continuing behaviour to police again because they would think she was “blowing it out of proportion”, jurors heard.

Ms Pumfrey told the court Miss Grice made the comments after they confronted Lane when he was spotted again several times near her house in Chrisdory Road, Portslade, on August 4.

Her body was found in her bedroom just three weeks later.

Ms Pumfrey, who was dating the uncle of Miss Grice’s long-term boyfriend Ashley Cooke, said: “She didn’t report it [the incident on August 4].

“She said she felt that they did not believe her all the time that she went to the police. [I said] they would have to believe her as I was there as a witness.

“[She said she thought they would think] she was blowing stuff out of proportion.”

Miss Grice had told her she kept getting a “feeling” someone was “watching her or following her” and later told her how she thought Lane had put a tracker on her phone or car.

She told the court: “[Shana] said if she went out all of a sudden he would turn up.”