Living in fear
EVERY time Sabrina’s phone vibrates, she panics. She checks out of her window every night before bed and has cameras surrounding her home.
“I’m always looking over my shoulder,” says the 25-year-old recruitment consultant, who has been stalked by her ex-partner, receiving threatening messages for three years.
“This has changed my life forever. I don’t sleep very well,” says Sabrina, who lives alone with her young daughter. “Is it actually ever going to end?”
In this shocking two part documentary, Stacey Dooley explores stalking, with one in five women and one in 10 men falling victim to a stalker in their lifetime.
“This is terrifying” says Stacey, who spends a few months with Cheshire Police, one of only a few forces in the UK to have a specialist stalking unit.
Stacey meets lots of victims, but also stalkers themselves to try to understand how this obsession devastates lives, with stalking a red flag to possible violent behaviour.
This first episode explores expartner stalking, the most common type – episode two is stranger stalking.
Cheshire police investigates a pilot accused of stalking his 28-year old ex-partner, who works as cabin crew.
He claims to be lovesick, but further investigation raises suspicions of a more sinister nature.
Victim Katie tells how a short relationship with a personal trainer at her gym led to him stalking her and making false allegations. “I was petrified,” she says.
And Stacey meets Andy, who has just been released from prison after stalking his ex for a year.
“I wanted to make her feel guilty,” he says.