He had temporarily moved in with Marie Wright but was later asked to leave
Cooper sneaked back in and she got suspicious about food going missing
He has been jailed for 16 months after admitting string of thefts and frauds
Creepy discovery: Marie Wright, 28, (left) has told of the moment she discovered her ex-boyfriend Alexander Cooper, 27, (right) had sneaked into her house while she was out and secretly set up home in her loft
Odd: She and her housemate grew suspicious about food going missing and later discovered a make-shift bed with blankets and cushions from their beds and sofa, as well as food wrappers - and a bag of Cooper's clothes
But within days she noticed food and bedding was going missing and found mucky fingerprints all over their attic door hatch.
Frightened, Ms Wright leaned on Cooper for support and even sent him into the loft to check for burglars armed with a crow bar.
ut she became suspicious of him after money went missing from her account and her housemate decided to double-check the loft herself.
The horrified pair discovered a make-shift bed with blankets and cushions from their beds and sofa, as well as food wrappers - and a bag of Cooper's clothes.
Police confronted Cooper and he admitted a string of thefts and frauds - including using Ms Wright's bank card to take out pay day loans - for which he was later sentenced to 16 months in prison.
Ms Wright, who believes Cooper was living in her loft for more than two weeks, said: 'I just felt sick when I found out. It was like a horror movie.
'As soon as I got home after I found out he was ringing my phone but I couldn't touch it. I was so scared. I never spoke to him again.
Ms Wright had asked Cooper to temporarily move in with her while her housemate was on holiday. But when he then refused to leave she insisted and told him she needed space. He then sneaked back in while she was out
Discovery: She also found mucky fingerprints all over their attic door hatch (pictured after being dusted by police). Her housemate checked the loft herself and that's when the pair discovered Cooper was living there
As far as we can work out he was waiting until we went to work, coming in and going round the house, and then waiting until we came home from work and going up into the loft and staying there.
'It felt like it was all my fault because I trusted him and he was my boyfriend - even though I know it wasn't.
'I thought I really knew him and knew everything about him, but actually he had this whole other side or life.'
She added: 'It could have turned out far worse, so I suppose I'm thankful it didn't.
'If we hadn't found him, how long would he have stayed there? Would he have got violent?
'You can't do this to people. If he had wanted money I would have given him money if he asked.
'He didn't need to do this. It is my life he has messed with at the end of the day.'
Ms Wright met Cooper through a friend more than ten years ago but the pair lost touch until they spotted each other on the dating website Plenty of Fish in May last year.
I just felt sick when I found out. It was like a horror movie
Marie Wright
She said he seemed 'totally normal' and they started dating, with Cooper regularly sending her text messages.
'He would say really sweet things like I was beautiful - of course it makes my skin crawl to think of it now,' said Ms Wright.
Problems began, however, when she asked Cooper to stay with her at her home in Sheffield for a week while her housemate was on holiday, and he later didn't leave.
After a few weeks she asked him to 'give her some space' and he promised to go to his father's for a while in mid-October.
But Ms Wright and her housemate soon noticed that a pizza had gone missing from their freezer, as well as toilet roll and packets of cigarettes.
The suspicious pair - who initially blamed each other - set 'traps' around the house, including placing tape across cupboard doors.
The housemates were terrified when they discovered they had been disturbed while they were at work, and called in police who found mucky fingerprints all over the door to their loft.
But the women said officers didn't search the back of the loft - obscured by a boiler - and simply advised them to change the locks.
Ms Wright said: 'We lined up the toilet roll and would find that some of it had been used
'Initially we sort of laughed it off, but as soon as we told people about it we realised how serious it was - someone had been in our house and it was scary.'
Betrayed: Police confronted Cooper and he admitted a string of thefts and frauds, including using Ms Wright's card to take out pay day loans. He was jailed for 16 months at Sheffield Crown Court
She claims Cooper even popped round and made a show of searching the attic - armed with a crow bar - before telling the women there was nothing up there.
But the next day Ms Wright discovered someone had taken three pay day loans worth £450 out in her name, as well as around £200 in cash, on November 1.
She convinced herself it was 'the stranger in the loft' and told police - who took statements from her, with Cooper by her side.
However, her housemate was suspicious and while Ms Wright was dropping Cooper off at his father's the next day, she sent her brother into the attic where he found the makeshift bedroom.
They discovered a bed made from covers and blankets from their beds, as well as cushions from their sofas, food wrappers and discarded cigarettes.
'He had been texting me from up there, telling me he couldn't answer phone calls because his phone was broken - actually it was because he was in the loft,' the housemate said.
'I was shaking. I couldn't believe it.
'It was like Survivor up in the loft. He had made a bed out of quilts and our blankets and pillows off the settee. It was so weird.
'There were food wrappers and fag ash everywhere, and I found a stash of his dirty clothes hidden in my room. They had been there so long they smelled so bad.
'There was also a Stanley knife.'
The pair phoned police and Ms Wright said Cooper confessed to officers.
He was jailed for a total of 16 months after pleading guilty to 12 counts of fraud, three of theft, and one of perverting the course of justice, at Sheffield Crown Court on July 17.
Five of the charges related to Ms Wright.
She said: 'I'm definitely going to be a little more cautious when I meet people now.
'I just didn't know what to think [at the time], and I still don't, but I'm just glad he is where he is.'
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