A good friend of mine has this problem - called a stalker. It is extremely upsetting for her as this creep has tried to enter her house on one occassion and on other occassions trespasses in the back garden between 12 and 2 in the morning.

She has notified the police who say they will have a look round. Guess what they find? Grass. Der!

So she contacted them again and again - as this prowler is scaring the hell out of the children (she is a single mopther). They arranged for someone to visit her and then no-one turned up from the police department - they were probably too busy relaxing in the nice sunshine or such hazardous duty.

What use are they? Is this supposed to make us feel safe and secure? Are we supposed to be proud of our police force?

Then it gets to a point where you take matters into your own hands and who do the police rush out to arrest? I'll give you one guess.

Just what are they doing and any ideas on how to sort out this ladies problem as the police appear to be incompetant.

Dragon

see my american bulldog thread in the forsale section,belive me it would cure her problem in no time:thumbsup:

Originally posted by Dragon



Then it gets to a point where you take matters into your own hands and who do the police rush out to arrest? I'll give you one guess.

Just what are they doing and any ideas on how to sort out this ladies problem as the police appear to be incompetant.

Dragon

Ambush the bloke and give him a hefty thump, then phone the police yourself to tell them what's happened.

Yes, they'll read you your rights. Yes, they'll interview you. Yes it will go to the CPS.

This bloke is in someone's back garden at 2am!!!!! Panic is inevitable if you 'come across them unexpectedly'. He might be armed (you thought he was anyway). Just don't hit him more than once, and remember to call the police immediately.

And pretend to be apologetic.

In fairness I think you ought to direct your fury at the courts.
The Police literally have their hands tied and in what few cases they bother to pursue, they break their balls to arrest somebody and get them into court and the magistrates just treat it as a joke.

Well, they all live in safe middle class suburbia so they would wouldn't they.

It has a demoralising effect on Police when they do everything right to convict someone and the magistrates or judge lets them walk.

R

She lives a long way from me so sort of makes it difficult for me to ambush and thump him. And if I did get the opportunity I would get arrested and charged with actual bodily harm or such.

Having a dog is great - except if your dog bites the offender it gets to be put down.

You cannot build a high wall and stick barbed wire around making a virtual prison for yourself either cos if someone cuts themselves while climbing over it - they will sue you and the police would probably arrest you for something.

There are two issues - 1) the female lives alone except for the kids and is an easy target and
(2) why won't the police do something? Do they all stop working at 9pm or something?

Dragon

Kirky's suggestion sounds good to me... the nasty man would have a shock with a huge dog attatched to his gonads

Originally posted by Dragon


Having a dog is great - except if your dog bites the offender it gets to be put down.



not if it occurs on your own property at 2 am

Originally posted by richardbiker
In fairness I think you ought to direct your fury at the courts.
The Police literally have their hands tied and in what few cases they bother to pursue, they break their balls to arrest somebody and get them into court and the magistrates just treat it as a joke.

Well, they all live in safe middle class suburbia so they would wouldn't they.

It has a demoralising effect on Police when they do everything right to convict someone and the magistrates or judge lets them walk.

R

Magistrates and judges have to follow the sentencing policies laid down by the Home Office.- the politicians. The prisons are currently full to overflowing and these days the politicians deem it expedient to let offenders 'walk' rather than spend money building new prisons. A magistrate I know is just as uncomfortable about this state of affairs as the public and the police.

Has she got a security light in back garden ? May just deter him from lurking in the shadows :mad:

Your friend should make a complaint to the Police Complaints section, on the grounds that promised visits have not materialised.

Does she ring 999 when she sees this stalker?

Originally posted by Dragon
She lives a long way from me so sort of makes it difficult for me to ambush and thump him. And if I did get the opportunity I would get arrested and charged with actual bodily harm or such.

Having a dog is great - except if your dog bites the offender it gets to be put down.

You cannot build a high wall and stick barbed wire around making a virtual prison for yourself either cos if someone cuts themselves while climbing over it - they will sue you and the police would probably arrest you for something.

There are two issues - 1) the female lives alone except for the kids and is an easy target and
(2) why won't the police do something? Do they all stop working at 9pm or something?

Dragon

that isn't a problem with the police, it's a problem with your perception of the law. You would be perfectly justified in thumping someone found creeping around your garden in the early hours of the morning. Afterall, you suprised them, you thought they were about to attack you, you thought you'd seen a weapon in their hands.

What would the police do, ideally, dragon? I'm not being mean, but what kind of a country would it be if she could just point out any old bloke and have him arrested? Or should they stake out her garden til he comes? Some would not say this is a reasonable use of police time.

If she lives on her own could I suggest - some kind of house alarm, CCTV, a dog, a sprinkler system (with red paint in it), a security light.

She is lucky to have a friend who cares so much though :)

It must be very scary thinking that some-one may be lurking in the garden especially when you don't know their motives or whether they are 'all there'.
I would suggest a sensor activated security light as they are quite useful for plenty of things apart from scaring off intruders. Also if she's got a very 'vocal' friend who can tell this person to go away and then she'd also have a witness [always good]
I wouldn't recommend confronting the person if you don't know their mental state as you may come off worse or the stalker might retaliate against his 'victim'
Would the police be prepared to supply and fit a security CCTV camera ?

Could your friend ask her neighbours to keep their eyes and ears open for any noises coming from the garden at night? I'm sure if she explained her problem with this nutter to them, if they're decent neighbours they'd be only too happy to help her out.
Does she actually know who this guy is? A spurned suitor perhaps?
If she does, then a "quiet" word from your goodself may be sufficient to stop the guy in his tracks!
Why she should have to put up with guy terrorising her and her kids is beyond me :confused:

Originally posted by kirky
not if it occurs on your own property at 2 am

or if it is defending you against an attack.

Shouls Kirky's idea be rejected, I suggest that when your friend rings the police she tells them that she has shot the person in question. They will be round PDQ :mad:

Failing that a group of forum "Gents" could do the honours for her. ;)

If the stalker is obsessional then under no account should she have any personal contact with him. No verbal responses, not even eye contact. They perceive any feedback as positive and any contact at all with the victim reinforces their behaviour.

Having been in a similar situation once the only option presented to me was for ME to pay to take out a restraining order, then if the person broke the restraining order, an offence had been committed and the police would be able to take action. What a load of rubbish.