More than 8,500 reports of stalking have been made in Cheshire over the past three years, latest police figures reveal. Halton had the highest rate of offences in the county.
It comes as victims of the crime are about to be granted the right to know the identity of their online abusers. Minister for Safeguarding, Jess Phillips, said the proposed “right to know” statutory guidance aims to tell victims the identity of their abuser at the earliest opportunity.
Birmingham (9,001), Leeds (8,187), and Bradford (6,239) were the three areas with the highest number of reports during that the three-year period. However, compared to the size of the population, the number of offences recorded in Stoke-on-Trent and Middlesbrough amounted to the equivalent of 14.1 crime reports for every 1,000 people in both areas – the highest rate in England and Wales.
In Cheshire East, there were a total of 2,810 reports over the three years which was the most in the county. However, the rate per 1,000 of the population was 6.9 – the lowest recorded in the four local authority areas.
A total of 2,658 reports were made in Cheshire West and Chester – a rate of 7.3 – while Warrington recorded 1,711 (8.1). Halton had the county’s highest rate – 10.7 per 1,000 – with a total of 1,375 reports of stalking.
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Stalking is fixated, obsessive, unwanted and repeated behaviour that makes the victim feel pestered and harassed. Under a raft of new measures unveiled by the Home Office, police will be empowered to release an online stalker’s identity at the “earliest opportunity”.
The guidance was inspired by broadcaster and activist Nicola Thorp, who was stalked and abused online for months by an unknown man who called himself “the Grim Reaper”. Nicola was bombarded by a constant stream of violent and misogynistic messages from almost 30 social media accounts set up by her stalker.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “Stalking is a horrendous crime. For far too long, victims of stalking have been subject to debilitating and vicious abuse at the hands of stalkers who use any means necessary to monitor and control their victims’ lives. Let us be clear – we will use every tool available to us to give more power to victims and take it away from the hands of their abusers. This starts with empowering police to give women the right to know the identity of their online stalkers, strengthening stalking protection orders and ensuring that the police work with all support services to give victims the protection they deserve.”
Cheshire Constabulary states on its website: “Stalking and harassment is when someone repeatedly behaves in a way that makes you feel scared, distressed or threatened. If this unwanted behaviour happens two times or more, it may be a crime and you can report it to us. If someone has behaved towards you in a way that’s made you feel scared, distressed or threatened and it’s happened once it could be antisocial behaviour, hate crime or another offence. Please report the incident to us.”
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