LET’S be clear that today’s story on the front page and pages four and five talks about allegations about Michael Lane which were made after he was charged with the murder of Shana Grice.

That point needs to be made for two very important reasons. The first is that the police must be given their due. Though the force is under investigation for the way it dealt with complaints about Lane by Shana, there is no suggestion that officers knew of other victims when Shana was still alive.

Lane’s alleged victims cannot be blamed as they would have been understandably frightened of him. They need help to come forward.

And during national Stalking Awareness Week our reporting of these cases can only help to highlight the issue.

It is obviously important to report these cases if you feel strong enough to do so or try to tell anybody that you can trust. Stalkers, evidently, can go on to murder someone, as in the case of Lane.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing but this issue, as we will look at in more depth tomorrow, is no doubt one which police need to take a grip of and give due weight to.

Some victims will remain silent for long periods and more needs to be done to build up their confidence.

They need to understand that they will be dealt with sensitively and that they will be listened to. Most importantly they need to be sure they will be protected from those they are complaining about.

It is too late for Shana, but lessons learnt from her case may still give some comfort to her family if her death means that others are protected from people like Michael Lane.