It’s a battle every day.. I’m walking down the street and think I’ll see my stalker
Going through legal system as a victim is a whole other thing Student wasn’t told jailed creep had been released from prison
Survivor Eve Mcdowell
A WOMAN has told of her terror that a stalker who broke into her home and battered her house mate with a claw hammer has been released from prison.
Eve Mcdowell claims she wasn’t told about Igor Lewandowski’s early release from prison last year and said she is still terrified she will bump into him on the street.
She told the Irish Mirror: “It’s still a battle every day. It still pops into my mind every few hours.
“I’m walking around the street and think I see him. It still happens all the time.”
Eve was a 20-year-old first year student at the University of Galway when she was stalked by Igor Lewandoski, who had become obsessed with her.
Lewandowski was jailed for five years in May 2020 with the judge saying he continued to “pose a risk of serious harm to the public” and showed “shallow” remorse.
However, he was released two years early in March last year.
Eve said: “I only found out it was going to be earlier when I contacted the Irish Prison Service myself so I don’t know if I would have been even notified.
“He’s been advised to stay out of Galway but you do have worries, it’s only a train ride away or a bus ride away and it’s a small place so if you want to find someone you could.
“But it’s like a lot of people in Galway would recognise him now.
CAUGHT
“There was a stage I wanted to pull back from the media because I was worried that would agitate them but then I was like but maybe if his face was everywhere, it might help protect me in that sense.”
Cork woman Una Ring’s sex stalker James Steele was locked up in 2020 after he was caught red-handed by gardai about to break into Una’s home armed with a rope, crow bar, dildo and duct tape.
He will be released from jail in a few weeks’ time.
Thanks to tireless campaigning by Eve, Una and Jarlath Rice, who was stalked by a woman for 10 years, Justice Minister Helen Mcentee finally enacted legislation making stalking a crime in Ireland last November.
The heroic survivors, who worked tirelessly to make Ireland a safer place will share their stories tonight in Stalked, a powerful new Virgin Media documentary.
They hope it will shine a light on the devastating impact stalking has on victims.
Eve, now an advocacy specialist and co-founder of Stalker Ireland, told the Irish Mirror stalking victims still come to her for help as they don’t know where else to turn.
She continued: “I had close to 300 disclosures of stalking myself over the past few years, which is massive.
“It was primarily women but way more men than I expected reaching out too.
“People reach out through my personal Instagram, Twitter and Facebook .
“I’ve had to change my names or turn off my accounts for a while and we had to remove our emails but even if I’m on nights out or I’m walking through campus, I get stopped.”
Eve wants to see a dedicated stalking-specific helpline and a range of services similar to what they have in the UK.
She also wants to see a campaign like Coco’s Law, which raised awareness of online bullying.
Eve added: “At the moment I don’t have anywhere to signpost people to.
“I can say the Rape Crisis Centre might take you, but they deal with a range of sexual violence sexual
Lewandowski harassment and they’re so busy the whole time.
“You really, really want to help but it took me being burnt-out and realising it was retraumatising myself to be at a point where I had to say no to people or signpost them to other
places. If there was emergency services for people who are in high-risk situations just so there’s somewhere for them to go for a few nights just to be able to sleep and breathe, I think that would be very important.”
Eve added: “Being stalked is one thing but going through the legal system as a victim is a whole other thing, even the fact you have to face them in court.
“I remember looking at him in court and he was smiling at me and it’s just so uncomfortable and people shouldn’t have to be put in that position.”
■ Stalked airs at 9pm tonight on Virgin Media One.
EVE MCDOWELL ON FACING STALKER IN COURT
James Steele