EMILY MAITLIS
20-year stalking ordeal has hurt my marriage
BBC current affairs presenter Emily Maitlis told yesterday how scared she felt after being pursued for decades by a stalker.
And the Newsnight journalist lashed out at the probation and prison services for failing to stop obsessed Edward Vines from making her life a misery.
In a victim impact statement, read out as Vines was jailed for ignoring a court order not to approach her, Ms Maitlis said she had felt “scared and let down” by the system.
She told the court: “It has affected my relationship with my husband. It has affected my ability to do my work.”
Oxford Crown Court heard that in a series of chilling letters to Ms Maitlis, Vines repeatedly referred to the murder of Jill Dando, the BBC Crimewatch presenter who was gunned down on the doorstep of her London home in April 1999.
The references caused “those responsible for Ms Maitlis’s safety to have great concerns”.
Ms Maitlis and Vines, 47, met when they were students at Cambridge in 1989. They never had a relationship but Vines became obsessed with her.
Harassment
He was first convicted of harassing Ms Maitlis in 2002. In 2016, he was jailed for three years for harassment and ordered not to contact her again.
But Vines ignored the warning and continued to write to her while serving his sentence at HMP Bullingdon, Oxfordshire.
After his release, he wrote to her again while living at a bail hostel.
Yesterday, Judge Peter Ross said it was “wholly unsatisfactory” for a stalker to be allowed to contact his victim while in prison or under the supervision of probation officers.
He gave the governor of HMP Bullingdon and the probation service 10 days to provide written explanations.
Mother-of-two Ms Maitlis, also 47, said in her statement: “When I heard that Edward Vines had breached his restraining order I felt scared and let down.
“Scared because it meant that even from within the prison system the perpetrator was able to reach me – let down because the system had been unable to stop him getting in touch.
“It has affected my relationship with my husband who is frustrated that we cannot get to the bottom of this problem even though we have been tackling it through the Crown Prosecution Service and the courts for over 20 years. It has scared my children who thought the threat had gone away.
“It has affected my ability to do my work – I am constantly thinking of whether he will be attempting to track me down.
“And it affects everyday decisions like how I leave the house and how I get to work, what time I feel able to come home at night – I work late nights often. This man remains a constant threat in my life and my family’s life.
“My ability to do my work, hang out with my children and lead a normal family life without a constant sense of suspicion and fear has been badly damaged.”
Vines, who has spent time in a psychiatric hospital, admitted two breaches of an indefinite restraining order and was jailed for a further three years and nine months.
‘Even from within the prison system he was able to reach me. My ability to work and lead a normal family life without constant fear has been badly damaged’