Friends warned me against watching Baby Reindeer, the hit Netflix series about the comedian Richard Gadd and “Martha”, the character based on his alleged real-life stalker. It was too close to home, they said.
The reason for their concern was simple, or so I thought. Eleven years ago, I gave evidence in court against a woman who’d been stalking me online, with hundreds of abusive, often homophobic tweets and emails. She was subsequently found guilty of harassment, given a suspended sentence and issued with a restraining order. I never heard from her again, but the impact of her actions took its toll on my mental health. I was later diagnosed with PTSD.
