The obsessed and controlling stalker who killed his ex in Gateshead after relationship ended
Trimaan Dhillon murdered Alice Ruggles in Gateshead after she ended their relationship
by Sophie Doughty · ChronicleLiveRejection turned once respected military man Trimaan Dhillon to an obsessive control freak who would eventually kill the woman who tried to get away from him.
To the outside world, the lance corporal, who went by the name Harry, was a hero who served in Afghanistan and wore his 2 Scots uniform with pride. But away from his military life, and when in a relationship, Dhillon was a controlling stalker who would eventually take the life of his ex-girlfriend, Alice Ruggles, after she ended their brief relationship.
Following Alice's murder her family set up the Alice Ruggles Trust to raise awareness of the dangers of stalking and the trust has recently been working with school's in the North East to deliver assembliies educating young people about stalking behaviour and how to deal with the end of a relationship.
But this week another tragic case highlighted just how dangerous being unable to handle rejection can become. The Chronicle was able to reveal for the first time that teenager Holly Newton, who was stabbed to death in Hexham, was murdered by her her former boyfriend Logan MacPhail, after reporting restrictions preventing us from naming the killer were lifted . Newcastle Crown Court heard how MacPhail followed the knifed Holly after they broke-up
Alice's mum has this week told of her belief that urgent work needs to be done to help people cope with rejection in a healthy way, before it turns to obsession, stalking and violence.
Sue Hills, 63, said: "I think it's a massive issue. It's one of the things we try to address. It's when people can't accept rejection. They have got to know, you are going to get really upset when someone breaks up with you. You have to accept it's ok to get upset, but it's not ok to do these other things. Is this something we can better prepare people for? We have lessons in school on almost everything else.
"One of the things that came up with Dhillon is he went to his GP and said he was obsessed with Alice and couldn't get over it. We are throwing all this stuff about broken relationships on to GPs and police, and it is causing so much trouble. If we can fix that and can support people who are struggling because of a broken relationship maybe we can prevent these deaths."
And today, eight years on from Alice's the murder we take a look back at how a break-up turned Dhillon into a killer.
Northumbria University graduate Alice, was brutally murdered by Dhillon, on October 12 2016. The 26-year-old Lance Corporal cut her throat at her flat on Rawling Road in Bensham, Gateshead.
Dhillon, whose regiment is based in Edinburgh, had denied murder at Newcastle Crown Court, saying the 24-year-old had fallen on a carving knife during an argument. But a the jury found him guilty of murder and he was jailed for life.
The fatal attraction that would eventually end in murder began in the autumn of 2015 when Dhillon first saw a picture of Alice on Facebook. They made contact through a mutual friend and the relationship began.
But despite his controlling, possessive behaviour towards Alice, he was “serially unfaithful” to her and was regularly in touch with other girls on dating websites, including Tinder and Plenty of Fish - even trying to arrange a casual hook-up shortly before murdering his ex.
By summer 2016, Alice suspected he was cheating on her and the relationship began to flounder. But when she told Dhillon it was over, he embarked on a campaign of emotional blackmail which included him talking about suicide and sending her pictures and voicemails of himself crying. When Alice she blocked him, he even contacted her friends and mother, who he tried to turn against her daughter.
Alice also suspected he had hacked into her social media accounts and he admitted hacking into the Facebook account of her potential new boyfriend. On September 30 2016 Dhillon travelled from Edinburgh in his BMW and left flowers and chocolates on Alice’s outside window sill.
After that, he was warned by the police and Army bosses to leave her alone, but he ignored them, sending her a parcel with a letter and photographs.
Then, two days before he killed Alice, he did the 240-mile round trip again – this time taking a photograph of the back of her flat in what prosecutors a suggested may have been a reconnaissance mission for what was to come when he broke in and murdered Alice on October 12.
Dhillon, an only child, was born in India and moved around as his father was in the Army. He started a degree in India then was given the option to do the final two years at Queen Margaret University, near Edinburgh and moved to the UK in 2010. The Army came to the university to recruit and he passed the selection process and passed out in May 2012.
He spent time at Sandhurst Academy and had also worked for the Royal Guard, protecting the Royal family on visits to Scotland.
The 6ft 1in, powerfully-built 26-year-old, a signaller with 2 Scots, had ambitions to join the reconnaissance arm of the SAS and had completed courses to that end.
He had served in Afghanistan, although not in a combat role, and used his experiences there to try to help his defence.
Dhillon tried to excuse abandoning the murder scene by saying seeing Alice covered in blood gave him a flashback to a helicopter crash in which five colleagues died, including one who had his throat cut by his visor. In fact he had not seen the casualties and only visited the site of the accident to guard it two days later, the court heard.
Dhillon had form for reacting badly to being dumped long before he even met Alice.
His first relationship was with Eniko Nemeth in 2012, who ended up getting a restraining order against him after she said he spat at her while confronting her in the street for finishing with him. He was charged with common assault but it was dropped after he accepted the restraining order.
And a Domestic Homicide Review (DHR) conducted by Gateshead Community Safety Board made 20 recommendations for local authorities, the police, the Home Office and the Ministry of Defence to act upon to prevent similar tragedies in the future.
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