Woman says police errors have left rape suspect free to stalk her

By the time the man had been charged, says Samantha, the stalking had restarted. On one occasion, officers from Warwickshire attended after he had been observing Samantha from a roadside food van. She says one of them dismissed her concerns: “I can’t arrest him for having his lunch, love.”

“I’ll never, ever forget those words – I just felt like being crushed inside,” she says.

At one point, the police told Samantha they were taking her repeated reports of stalking seriously and that the man’s bail conditions would include a clause stipulating that if he was to go anywhere near her, he would risk arrest.

But an admin error meant West Mercia forgot to put the restrictions in place, and Samantha says the stalking continued.

She says she believes if the bail conditions had been administered correctly, the man would have been arrested.

She is still regularly reporting stalking incidents to the police – “I’m becoming their administrator for all the stalking that’s taking place,” she says, but adding there is “absolutely no action” being taken.

She greatly credits her adviser, who works for the West Mercia Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Centre, with helping her to cope, both with the emotions of the case as well as chasing the police to take her allegations seriously.

Warwickshire Police said it was investigating and “always aims to put measures in place to protect and support” victims of domestic abuse. “It is always concerning when a victim is not satisfied with the service they have received,” added Detective Inspector Ruth Morris.