Police may still be failing stalking victims

That was the concern of police and crime commissioner Katy Bourne yesterday as she revealed she has asked Sussex Police to review a case after speaking to a victim this week.

The news comes as relatives and friends remember Shana Grice, the teenager killed at her home in Chrisdory Road, Portslade, by her jilted stalker a year ago today.

Stalking reports in the county rose by 363 per cent in the last five months since the 19-year-old’s murderer Michael Lane was jailed for life.

Mrs Bourne said: “Even this week I have been approached by another victim who sustained a prolonged period of harassment and I’ve had to ask the police to review their response and to look at this again.”

She could not say when the victim had been involved with police but that the abuse began online and crossed over into the “real world”, adding: “[The police] are doing a lot to put this right but I’m not convinced it was the right response.

“There’s a lot of work to be done.

“They have made a start and they are really getting to grips with this.”

Detective Superintendent Jason Tingley, Sussex Police’s head of public protection, said he has seen more officers keen to take stalking cases to court which showed the work carried out to change the force’s culture towards stalking.

He has appointed Detective Chief Inspector Pierre Serra to oversee stalking for the force and a score of specially trained officers to review cases across the county.

But he said: “There is still more work to be done.

“We are not always going to get the response right. I’ve been contacted by a number of people who have suggested our response has not been right over the last year.

“That’s why we are having a single point of contact to make sure we are speaking to officers to make sure we are doing the right thing.”

The police and the commissioner have agreed to fund stalking charity Veritas Justice for two years to support victims across the county.

Some 12 officers and staff are being questioned in an ongoing Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) inquiry into how the force handled complaints Miss Grice made about Lane’s behaviour before she died.

Mrs Bourne subsequently ordered an independent inquiry to look at how all stalking and harassment cases are being handled by the force with the results expected at the end of the year.

The county’s chief crown prosecutor Jaswant Narwal this week told The Argus she would also be reviewing how such cases are being handled by her staff.

A domestic homicide review – scrutinising the actions of all public bodies leading up to Miss Grice’s death – is being finalised but will not be published until early next year.

NUMBERS OF VICTIMS IS 'DEPRESSING'

REPORTS of stalking have risen 363 per cent in five months.

Officers received 324 calls between March and July but took no further action on more than a quarter. In March alone - the month stalker Michael Lane was jailed for murdering 19-year-old Miss Grice in Portslade a year ago today- the force received 70 calls. The highest number was last month when 76 reports were received in comparison to just eight last July.

Police said there was insufficient evidence or the victims were unwilling to support prosecution on 146 of this year’s reports. But reporting the incidents allowed officers to arrange support and protection. Some 29 people have been charged and 142 cases are still under investigation. Seven stalkers were issued police cautions after victims consented to this course of action.

In comparison, there were 70 reports in the same period of time last year. Just 14 resulted in a charge. One case is still under investigation, one police caution was issued and the 54 remaining were closed for the same reasons.

The CPS said it has no way of finding out how many stalkers it is successfully prosecuting.

Detective Superintendent Jason Tingley and police and crime commissioner Katy Bourne attributed the spike to victims being more confident in coming forward, better recording of the offence and the high profile trial leaving the public with a better understanding of the dangers of the crime.

But Mrs Bourne said it was “depressing” there were so many victims and said Sussex needed to lead the way in tackling this potentially national problem.

She said: “Are the police getting it 100 per cent right all the time? No they are not. Are they making an enormous effort? Yes they are working hard but there is still a long way to go. It is not about speed it is about getting the right outcomes.”

She described herself as a “last resort” for victims who had become frustrated by the system and felt they had nowhere else to turn for help.

This was her motivation for securing £62,530 in funding so stalking charity Veritas Justice can support victims across the county and train police officers for the next two years.

Co-founder and stalking victim Sam Taylor said the service - which has a cyber security expert to help those being stalked online - will stop victims being let down.

She said: "Unfortunately, due to previous lack of training, lessons are rarely learned and people continue to lose their lives due lack of identifying stalking and the risks involved with this obsessive, fixated behaviour. 

"We hope through our service to challenge assumptions about vulnerability and about who the victims of stalking are and how they become victims, because stalking is a crime that can happen to anyone and everyone has the right to live a life free of fear.

"Research is developing all the time and we appeal to all those working in the sector to be always open to learning."

In another development - alongside all the other already ongoing inquiries in the wake of Miss Grice’s death - the county’s top lawyer Jaswant Narwal said the CPS will also look at how it approaches stalking. The chief crown prosecutor for Sussex, Kent and Surrey said it was it was “extremely important” to focus on these offences and has told her staff to work with police on an action plan.

The IPCC recommended all stalking case be reviewed by a specialist officer before they are closed in the wake of the murder. The force has met its own target of specially training 25 officers to deal with stalking posted in Hastings, Eastbourne, Brighton, Crawley and Littlehampton safeguarding units with a view to hopefully doubling that number.

DS Tingley said officers can choose to refer their case to these colleagues for advice if they have particular concerns but a specialist officer will not review every single stalking case as advised. He said it was not possible to do so because of the resources needed. But he was confident each team’s supervisors would be overseeing all stalking cases handled.

So far 87 per cent of some 3,400 front line officers are completing the mandatory 40 minute online training course which explains warning signs, legislation and features victims’ case studies.

The force has also mostly scrapped issuing penalty notices to perpetrators and now look to use tougher warnings at their disposal or prosecute where possible.

DS Tingley said there were increasing numbers of cases going to court and the force was making use of new coercive control legislation where possible, adding: “We are seeing a change in culture here – officers are wanting to see these cases taken to court.”

He said officers were now visiting each domestic abuse victim as promised but it was a challenge. There were 19,980 reports between January and August alone – more than 10,000 were then identified as crimes. This is more than the whole of the last year when 11,476 incidents were reported and 12,506 the year before.

POLICE POWERS UNDER NEW LAWS​

Police and prosecutors are also bringing cases to court under new coercive control laws. Sussex Police only secured their first conviction in May and yesterday The Argus reported how an abusive boyfriend Adam Taylor bullied his intelligent university student girlfriend Lana Milner into a life of turmoil. The 22-year-old, formerly of Southover Street, Brighton, was given a restraining order and handed a nine-month suspended jail sentence.

Miss Milner was scared to leave her home, banned from using social media or even talking to male friends under Taylor’s reign of terror.

Taylor moved in with the 18-year-old at her student residence in Phoenix Halls and began to take control of every part of her life - forcing her to get rid of her phone and computer, accessing her social media accounts and forcing her to leave her job.

Taylor, who had a previous conviction for harassing a previous girlfriend, was arrested after one of her friends contacted the police - because she was too scared to call them herself after five months under his control.

He would shout at her, spit on her, pushed her out of bed and laughed at her. He punched her and claimed it was a joke.

Sussex Police secured their first conviction earlier this year. St Leonards binman Robert Conlon was sentenced to four years behind bars - a far cry from Taylor’s penalty.