Stalking victims will be able to learn their perpetrator’s identity more quickly under new measures unveiled by the government.
Perpetrators will be subject to a tougher restraining order system as new policies make it easier for victims to obtain Stalking Protection Orders to stop offenders from pursuing and harassing them.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper will introduce new ‘Right to Know’ statutory guidance to enable police officers to disclose an online stalker’s identity at the earliest chance.
The impetus for this measure stems from ex Coronation Street actor Nicola Thorp’s own stalking ordeal - with the Home Office saying the police refused to disclose the identity of her perpetrator even after he was arrested.
Ms Thorpe only learned the identity of her stalker once in court - even though he once said he had got so close to Nicola on a train that he was able to smell her.
She was subjected to a relentless slew of violent misogynistic messages, with the man setting up nearly 30 social media accounts to send these.
The man, who dubbed himself The Grim Reaper in some of his messages to the actor, is serving a 30-month prison sentence with a lifetime restraining order.
New measures, launched by the Home Office on Tuesday, will make Stalking Protection Orders more accessible.
Under the current system, the orders can only be enforced when an offender is convicted and a protection order was in force prior to the trial.
But with the raft of new measures in place, courts will be able to administer protection orders after they have been convicted in instances when there was no order before their trial and also implement orders on individuals who have been acquitted if sufficient evidence indicates they pose a risk.
Such orders can block perpetrators from contacting their victims or going in a certain vicinity of them, as well as forcing them to attend schemes which aim to tackle their behaviour.
Too often, I hear from victims facing relentless, terrifying behaviour from stalkers - only for the police or Crown Prosecution Service to downgrade it to a lesser offence, such as malicious communications or harassment.
Ms Cooper said: “Stalking is a horrendous crime. For far too long, victims of stalking have been subject to debilitating and vicious abuse at the hands of stalkers who use any means necessary to monitor and control their victims’ lives.
“Let us be clear - we will use every tool available to us to give more power to victims and take it away from the hands of their abusers.”
The new measures are a key element of Labour’s “cross government mission to halve violence against women and girls in a decade”, the Home Secretary said.
Ms Thorp added: “For too long, stalking victims have been at the mercy not only of their stalker, but a justice system that failed to protect them. These new measures will empower victims to regain some much-needed control of their lives and police to bring abusers to justice.”
The government will also undertake a review of stalking legislation to decide if the law needs to be overhauled to support police to improve how they handle stalking cases. On top of this, the new measures will define stalking in statutory guidance and establish a legal framework to help services such as police, healthcare and education to join forces to tackle stalking.
Jess Phillips, Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls, said: “As a victim of stalking myself, I know just how terrifying it can be to be subject to such controlling behaviour.
“Today we are announcing six fresh measures which will help people go about their lives with the confidence that the person stalking them is being dealt with robustly and that more protections are in place to help them.”
London’s Independent Victims’ Commissioner, Claire Waxman OBE, said: “Too often, I hear from victims facing relentless, terrifying behaviour from stalkers - only for the police or Crown Prosecution Service to downgrade it to a lesser offence, such as malicious communications or harassment.
“It is clear the current stalking laws are failing to protect victims and I urge government to now proceed swiftly with their review in this area.”
