Top Tips: What to do if you think you are being stalked

This week it was reported that a Houghton Regis stalker had made his ex-partner’s life a nightmare by bombarding her with calls and publishing fake pornographic images of her online. The offender was given a 12-month prison sentence suspended for two years, ordered to participate in a ‘Building Better Relationships’ programme, 30 days of rehabilitation requirement activity, a six-month curfew between 8pm and 5am, and 60 hours of unpaid work. Stalking is actually a crime in England and Wales under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997. Stalking is described as a pattern of unwanted and persistent behaviour that is motivated by a fixation or obsession that causes a victim to suffer alarm, distress or a fear of violence. The law states that it’s illegal for a person to pursue a course of conduct that they know or ought to know amounts to stalking. A course of conduct refers to two or more incidents of unwanted behaviour. The National Stalking Helpline is run by Suzy Lamplugh Trust