Call for early action in cases of stalking

Calls for the justice system to do more

CRIME: Failure to take action on stalking could lead to an escalation in violence and potentially death, a study of more than 350 cases or murder and manslaughter suggests.

The results of a study claim there is a strong correlation between some key stalking behaviours and homicides.

FAILURE TO take action on stalking could lead to an escalation in violence and potentially death, a study of more than 350 cases or murder and manslaughter suggests.

The results of a six-month study claim there is a strong correlation between some key stalking behaviours and homicides.

Criminologists found that stalking was present in 94 per cent of the cases they studied and surveillance activity, including covert watching, was recorded 63 per cent of the time.

An escalation of worrying behaviour was identified in 79 per cent of the examples. Other factors highlighted were the control and isolation of the victim and making threats to kill.

The six-month study at the University of Gloucestershire found that by identifying the intention behind the stalking and then managing the fixation may reveal opportunities to save lives.

According to the researchers, 85 per cent of homicides occurred in the victim’s home.

Dr Jane Monckton Smith, a former police officer turned criminologist, found that in almost every case the killer displayed the obsessive, fixated behaviour associated with stalking.

Stalking could present itself in acts as simple as rearranging a victim’s garden furniture, sending unwanted gifts, loitering on the pavement outside their house, or even calling social services to maliciously report “poor” parenting.

With the Suzy Lamplugh Trust, Dr Monckton Smith is calling on the professionals across the criminal justice system to review their approach to assessing risk, so that the 1.1m victims of stalking every year can be offered greater protection.

She said: “Practically every case we looked at featured examples of the obsessive, fixated behaviour that typifies stalking. Sadly, it is too late for the women and children that formed part of our research so we need to do justice to their memory by acting earlier, when stalkers are demonstrating these behaviours, rather than waiting for the escalation, which can have such profound and tragic results.

“Understanding the motivation behind these behaviours, and the risk that they present, is profoundly important.”

The Suzy Lamplugh Trust, which runs the National Stalking Helpline, is calling on the courts to recognise stalking as a broader problem and pattern of behaviour.

Chief executive Rachel Griffin said: “Stalking is an obsession which can increase in risk and severity and needs to be addressed under an early intervention model. Acting on what are currently considered to be minor, unrelated incidents, but which are driven by a malicious intent which could later put the victim at great risk, could help to save lives.”

The charity is currently working with three police forces and NHS trusts to pilot intervention programmes that focus on the fixation of the stalker.

“To see these changes being put into action, we need real commitment from criminal justice professionals to ensure that the intention driving the behaviour is examined and assessed for threat, and that these seemingly ‘harmless actions’ are seen for what they are and given the attention they deserve,” Ms Griffin added.

The study looked at 358 cases of criminal homicide in the UK between 2012 and 2014.

We need real commitment from criminal justice professionals Rachel Griffin, Suzy Lamplugh Trust