Stalking awareness lessons rolled out

A project by police in County Durham to educate young people on stalking and coercive behaviour has been so successful it is now being offered to schools across the country.

Durham Constabulary teamed up with The Alice Ruggles Trust in 2019 to highlighting unhealthy relationship behaviours and stalking.

It followed the murder of Alice, who was just 24 when she was killed by her ex-boyfriend, Trimaan Dhillon, after three months during which he bombarded her with messages, hacked into her social media, and much more.

Alice’s family has been working with the force’s Superintendent, Richie Allen, and Inspector Emma Kay, to deliver the free lessons to dozens of secondary schools across the force area.

To mark Stalking Awareness Week, a new lesson has been added to the programme – Reducing Inappropriate Behaviours.

The interactive lessons are each an hour-long and delivered at schools by trained officers and primarily aimed at pupils aged 14 to 16.

They have been so successful they are now being delivered in nine other force areas across the country.

Insp Kay said: “We wanted to find a way to educate young people on the dangers but also give them the confidence to recognise healthy and unhealthy relationships and know how they can get support if they need it.

“It’s been really encouraging to see the feedback from more than 1,000 students and teachers and I would encourage any schools interested to get in touch.”

For details, contact Samantha Home-Jackson at Samantha.Home-Jackson@ durham.police.uk