My Stalker Moved in Next Door: A victim 'failed by the system'
The third episode of our podcast series unpicks the gaps in the system which allowed a convicted stalker to be admitted to a hospital, only meters away from his victim's home address.
There are calls for better protections for victims of crime, when the perpetrator is sentenced to a treatment order under the Mental Health Act.
It follows a case in the North West of England where a convicted stalker was handed an unrestricted hospital order by a court, before being admitted to a treatment unit next door to where his victim was living.
Listen:
The story is the subject of our new podcast; ‘My Stalker Moved in Next Door’:
The three-part series follows the case of journalist Victoria Glover, who became a victim of cyber stalking in 2021, before discovering that the perpetrator had been placed only streets away from her home address for his treatment.
"It's something that really needs to change."
Alison Commissiong works in community mental health services and was instrumental in relocating the perpetrator in this case. She believes victim details, including address, should be shared with the relevant mental health services, prior to a perpetrator/patient’s admission: “There is no systematic transfer of information from court to mental health services at the point of admission, which provides victim information. So, when a bed is identified for a patient, we are completely unaware of the victim’s name, address and details in order to determine that placement. It’s quite feasible that this has happened in other cases up and down the country, and it’s also quite feasible that it could continue to happen.
“This individual had committed an offense previously for stalking and that information wasn’t transferred to mental health services. It’s something that really needs to change - we need to have that information and that needs to be part of our risk assessments within mental health services.”
How can the system improve?
Since Victoria’s case unfolded, the local team has been working on preventative measures to avoid any repeat scenarios, including the creation of a victim information leaflet and training for staff around victim awareness. Alison says it’s an ongoing process which would benefit from national backing and funding: “We have developed a ‘request for information’ form, so that as soon as a Victim Liaison Officer is allocated, there is a form to complete. However, there is a passage of time so it may well be that the patient is already in their location.
“We’ve raised this, and a number of other issues, with the Ministry of Justice and we’ve also set up a victim development group to try and address some of these concerns. They remain outstanding and there is something nationally that I think needs to happen to put that process in place whereby information is transferred when a bed is being determined.
“All mental health services should have a single point of contact, and a team, so that they can liaise appropriately with victim contact services. There really needs to be a coordinated, multiagency approach, if we are really, really committed to protecting victims”
The wider picture:
We approached the Ministry of Justice, the Department of Health and Social Care and the Crown Prosecution Service for a comment on these issues, and whether anything was being put in place to protect victims of those sentenced under the Mental Health Act.
None of the organisations were willing to provide a statement regarding information sharing between courts and mental health services.
However, a Crown Prosecution Service spokesperson said: “We recognise the devastating impact stalking has on its victims.
“This is why in addition to prosecuting the defendant for his crimes, we worked with police to put a restraining order in place to make sure the defendant was not aware of the victim’s address.”