Stalking victims are at 'serious risk', warns damning report

Stalking victims remain at serious risk of harm or murder due to police forces not 'sufficiently understanding' the offence, a damning report has found. 

Campaigners are demanding action over safeguarding failures two years on from a 'super-complaint' which launched a major review.

Organisations which make up The National Stalking Consortium say police are failing to identify suspects, properly investigate crimes and implement protection for victims, 'putting many at risk'.

Today's report found it is common for stalking to be mischarged as different types of crime such as malicious communications, criminal damage or domestic abuse.

This in turn means victims aren't given Stalking Protection Orders (SPOS) which can help shelter them, in a similar way to a restraining order.

In some cases, these failings have led to the death of a victim and sometimes the suicide of the suspect. 

Seven million people in England and Wales have been victims of stalking - one in five women and one in 10 men.

There have been several high profile cases, mainly where the victim has been a woman, such as former Newsnight presenter Emily Maitlis.

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Her stalker breached his order 20 times, continuing to harass her even from prison.

In 2022, Yasmin Wafah Chkaifi, 43, died after the 'terrifying' attack by stalker ex-husband Leon McCaskie, 41, in Maida Vale, West London.

McCaskie was already wanted by police for breaching a restraining order which Ms Chkaifi had taken out against him for being abusive. 

Today's findings pinpointed a lack of an effective strategy by officers to support stalking victims such as these, and recommended an overhaul of the law.

The Committee - made up of His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services, the College of Policing and the Independent Office for Police Conduct - also found that there is poor risk assessment and safeguarding being carried out across forces, which is potentially leaving some victims at serious risk.

It found that in 297 cases there was risk of serious harm or homicide to the victim, but this was only identified in 66 of them.

The report read: 'The police had not identified risk of serious harm or homicide to a victim in many of the relevant cases that were part of our fieldwork case file review. This finding is especially concerning.

'Our review of IOPC stalking cases included some cases where police officers or staff had taken advantage of their position to pursue a sexual or improper emotional relationship with a member of the public and which also involved stalking behaviours. 

'However, it was not common for these cases to be recorded and dealt with specifically as stalking offences by either the IOPC or the police force professional standards departments who investigated them. 

'This means that the risk to victims may not have been properly identified and managed, including through stalking-specific protections such as SPOs. Victims would also be unlikely to be referred to specialist stalking support services.'

It found that the laws and guidance for police are 'confusing and inconsistent' and there is a lack of understanding by police of the scale and types of stalking in their area.

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There are issues with the quality and resourcing of some investigations, it added.

Some officers failed to search for and seize evidence belonging to suspects, along with not arresting them. 'Most' case files were also missing evidence of the psychological impact on victims. 

'In many cases, we did not think officers had recognised this impact at all,' the report found.

It quoted one stalking victim who said the officer joked about the crime she was reporting.

It read: 'We had a victim that was having the ice scraped off her car for her every morning. And the response from the officer was, 'Wow, that sounds great. I need a stalker'. 

The police super-complaints system is designed to consider complaints about systemic issues in policing. Only organisations that are designated by the Home Secretary can make a super-complaint.

This includes The Suzy Lamplugh Trust, which is demanding for 'immediate action' in the form of a National Stalking Plan for different authorities and agencies to work together. 

The organisation is also calling for £243,810,000 in funding for specialist stalking support services which would occur across all criminal justice agencies.

It noted that applications of Stalking Protection Orders (SPOs) are worryingly low, and police training on stalking is inconsistent. 

SPOs are meant to protect victims, but only half of the breaches reported to police end in a charge or conviction, MailOnline can reveal.

It is a civil order to protect a victim of stalking, and breaching one is a criminal offence which can result in up to five years in prison.

They were introduced in 2019 to shield people subject to intrusive and obsessive unwanted behaviour while the police investigate.

But Rachel Horman-Brown, a lawyer who specialises in stalking cases, told MailOnline that getting an SPO in the first place is 'as rare as hen's teeth'.

She said: 'The police hardly ever obtain one despite victims asking and sometimes begging them to obtain one. This to me is the far bigger issue than simply enforcement of a handful of orders

'Whilst the police will say that they are there for victims of stalking the experience of the vast majority of victims is that the police just don't seem to care about stalking and give negligent advice such as 'just come off social media' or 'change your number'.

'This actually increases the risk to the victim as a stalker then has to find another means of getting to the victim such as turning up at their place of work.'

Recently, the legislation was updated to make it easier for SPOs to be granted after it emerged they were being severely underused by forces. 

But data obtained by MailOnline has revealed that when a stalker ignores this order and continues to harass their victim, half of the time they face no consequences.

The orders are meant to protect victims, but when MailOnline sent Freedom of Information requests to the MoJ and the forces, it emerged that only 53 per cent of reported breaches end in a charge/conviction (of the 25 which responded).

For offences in general, this is significantly higher, at around 81 per cent.

Of those that are sentenced for breaching an order, last year the average prison time was 79 months, and the average fine £304.

MailOnline asked all of the police forces in England and Wales how many breaches of SPOs were reported in the last five years. 

Examining the forces which provided data between 2019 and 2024, the areas with the lowest rate of charges/convictions for breaches are North Wales at 30 per cent, Cleveland at 33 per cent and Thames Valley Police at 57 per cent. 

Of the forces which responded, Cumbria Police has the highest rate - 78 per cent - of reports ending in a charge. This is for the three years it held the data for.

Second best is West Mercia, which has a 73 per cent charge rate from 2022 to April 2024.

The Suzy Lamplugh Trust said they are 'sadly not surprised' by MailOnline's findings, adding that there is a 'systemic lack of understanding' in the police about SPOs.  

In one case, a​ woman who feared being murdered by her stalker said it took nine months from the date she requested a Stalking Protection Order for it to be put in place. 

In that time, she ​received death threats and suffered a breakdown. 

Emma Lingley-Clark, Interim CEO of Suzy Lamplugh Trust, said: 'This is a pivotal moment for police forces to demonstrate their commitment to improving the criminal justice experience and outcomes for victims of stalking. 

'However, it is not enough to just say we will do better, instead now we need to see a real commitment to preventing the numerous failures encountered by stalking victims. 

'Ensuring that every victim receives the best possible response requires a mammoth effort across all criminal justice agencies. 

'We welcome these robust recommendations and want to support police forces to urgently implement them. But there is a vital need for these interventions to be resourced. 

'Police alone will not be able to achieve the whole system reform that is needed to address the widespread systemic issues identified in this report. Now is the time for all agencies, including the Government, to join forces against stalking'. 

Stalking victim Rhianon Bragg said: 'I was lucky to survive being stalked, I nearly didn't. I know that what I endured could had been prevented if the police and CPS had responded differently. Action must be taken before more lives are needlessly destroyed by stalking.' 

Deputy Chief Constable Paul Mills, National Police Chief's Council Lead for Stalking and Harassment, added: 'We welcome the recommendations made in the super-complaint and remain committed to doing everything possible to improve the policing response for victims of stalking. 

'Stalking and harassment can have a devastating impact on victims. Our criminal justice system must recognise the damage and harm perpetrators cause and protect victims at the earliest opportunity. 

'To effectively do this, policing must respond as part of a wider system approach. As the report highlights, Police forces that have integrated multi-agency models to respond to reports of stalking have seen the best success at disrupting perpetrator behaviour and safeguarding victims. 

'We must continue to drive best practice nationally across forces and ensure that police officers and staff have the right skills and resources to identify and investigate reports and provide support for victims through the criminal justice process.'