NEWS – “without comment”
Posted by: Ian (D. Withers)
www.WAPI.org
SUPER COMPLAINT AGAINST POLICE
‘I would not wish this upon anyone’: GB News presenter Ellie Costello reveals her year of hell being stalked by Airline star Leo Jones – as campaigners launch ‘super complaint’ against police for ‘failing to protect women’
GB News presenter Ellie Costello says she was stalked by one of her guests
Despite never meeting in person, Leo Jones blitzed her with creepy messages
Jones, who was on reality show Airline, has reinvented himself as a ‘travel expert’
He sent messages and flowers to the 29-year-old despite pleas for him to stop
Now he’s been handed a 5-year restraining order at St Albans Magistrates Court
Alice Wright and Paul Revoir For The Daily Mail
Matthew Lodge For Mailonline
25 November 2022
The conclusion of Miss Costello’s case comes as figures revealed that in the year ending March 2022, only five per cent of stalking reports ended up being charged by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).
The Telegraph reports that 30,000 cases were dropped due to ‘evidential difficulties’ despite victims supporting prosecution.
This has prompted the Suzy Lamplugh Trust to launch a ‘super complaint’ against British police, which it says is ‘failing to identify staling behaviours as a course of conduct at an early stage, contributing to them being mischarged by the CPS’.
The charity is one of only a dozen or so charities that have the ability to launch this specific type of action, which means that police watchdogs have to consider whether to launch a national enquiry.
It added that ‘it is clear that police are failing to understand and implement’ stalking legislation which was brought into force a decade ago, which is ‘ultimately leaving many victims unprotected’.
Suky Bhaker, CEO of Suzy Lamplugh Trust, says: ‘We support thousands of victims every year across our National Stalking Service and a significant number of them tell us that they are being let down by the police and the courts at every step of their journey to justice.
‘Failure to identify and investigate stalking at the earliest possible opportunity results in an increasing risk of physical and psychological harm to the victim.
‘We hope that the outcome of this super-complaint will result in robust recommendations to improve the police response to stalking across the country which is so vitally needed.’
Claire Waxman, Victims Commissioner for London, says: ‘Too many stalking victims are being let down by the police and wider justice system – with stalking behaviours being ignored or minimised, and breaches of restraining orders not taken seriously enough.
‘I fully support the National Stalking Consortium’s super-complaint, which highlights a number of failures in the way stalking cases are being dealt with, leaving victims at risk of further harm and causing unnecessary distress.
‘While I hoped the revised stalking legislation would lead to better protections and justice for victims, ten years on the charge rate remains unacceptably low.
‘It is clear the justice system is still struggling to identify and tackle stalking robustly, leaving too many victims suffering and at risk.
‘Change is well over-due as stalking victims deserve to be protected’
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