Kerry Daynes claims that her television work made her the focus of an “obsessed” man. Recent victims of stalking include David Beckham and Claire Foy, whose stalker is being sentenced today; nonetheless, advocates assert that the vast majority of those targeted are not in the public glare, and the issue is still not “taken seriously.”
Kerry Daynes feared her life was in danger when she spotted “Jill Dando” scribbled on her fence shortly after her cat was discovered dead in her garden with its neck presumably broken.
Through her work in maximum security prisons, the forensic psychologist has interacted with some of the most notable criminals in the United Kingdom, including Moors murderer Ian Brady and dangerous convict Charles Bronson.
She claims that following her television appearances she became the focus of a stalker.
Daynes was contacted online by an unknown person who offered her the opportunity to purchase domains for websites created in her name after appearing in multiple crime programs.
She claims that he “quickly turned” and responded with “anger and hatred” when she denied the offer.
She claims that he “bombarded” her with texts and posted comments online accusing her of lying and making comments about how she appeared in various outfits.
It was an extremely frightening period.
I had no prior awareness of him. I was unaware of who he was.
He might have been any male who passed by my home or was in line behind me at Tesco.
“Each time a man stared at me, I wondered, “Is this him?”
“I was racing into my home at night, fumbling with the key to unlock the door, and then living with the curtains drawn.”
“Fixed, undesirable, and persistent”
Daynes, a resident of Greater Manchester, relates that she would lie awake at night wondering if this person was “likely to kill me.”
“What was unsettling was the level of obsession this man had for me,” she continues.
“I’d never spoken to him. According to my knowledge, I had never seen him.
“Fixed, unwanted, and relentless, he was undoubtedly a stalker.”
Daynes claims that the man’s behavior caused her to quit appearing on television, at public speaking events, and on social media.
She finally met him in a civil court battle, which resulted in the removal of the websites using her name.
She claims that years later while walking her dog, a parked automobile suddenly sped up and nearly struck her.
A week later, she received a letter with a demand for more than £26,000 from the man. Shortly thereafter, her cat was discovered dead.
“Death hazard”
“I discovered my cat, who had been perfectly healthy ten minutes prior, dead, with a broken neck and tossed over my fence,” Daynes said.
Someone had scribbled “Jill Dando” on the other side of the fence when I rounded the corner.
Daynes feels the reference to Dando, the television personality who was fatally shot outside her London house in 1999 and whose murder remains unsolved, was a “death threat.
“I came into the police station and asked to speak with your stalker specialist,” she claims.
According to Daynes, the man subsequently received a harassment warning from the police.
The celebrity victims of stalkers
A stalker who targeted Claire Foy, who played Queen Elizabeth II in the Netflix series The Crown, was punished on Friday.
Foy described Jason Penrose’s behavior as “very alarming” after he sent over 1,000 emails in less than a month, knocked on her house, and contacted her sister.
It follows a string of prominent stalking victims in recent months.
David Beckham expressed concern for the safety of his family after Sharon Bell sent him “threatening” messages and showed up at his daughter’s school.
In July of last year, she was charged with stalking and held under the Mental Health Act.
A five-year restraining order was issued in February 2022 to a stalker who traveled 23 miles to the home of tennis star Emma Raducanu and snatched her father’s sneaker as a keepsake.
The Suzy Lamplugh Trust, which assists victims of stalking, states that situations involving celebrities are “certainly not the norm.”
Approximately 45% of callers to the charity’s helpline are being stalked by ex-partners. And another third have had prior contact with their stalker.
In the year ending in June 2022, there were over 718 thousand stalking and harassing offenses in England and Wales, a 45 percent increase from the year ending in March 2020.
Nevertheless, according to the National Stalking Consortium, just 5% of stalking cases in England and Wales result in a charge.
Anti-stalking activists filed a super-complaint in November, which is designed to consider complaints about systemic faults in policing, after saying that forces are failing to conduct effective investigations into stalking offenses.
Why do celebrities become targets?
The most common sort of stalker, according to Daynes, is “the rejected stalker,” and most individuals will recognize those who target them.
“Stalking is a very gendered crime; more frequently than not, men stalk their ex-girlfriends. But that’s not to suggest that there are no female stalkers,” she explains.
Those who stalk people in the public eye are likely to have low-level mental health issues, be unemployed or under-employed. And struggle with a variety of life challenges, according to our findings.
“I believe it’s simple for people to become obsessed with someone they don’t know because they use fantasy to cope.
People who are predisposed to fantasize about a relationship with someone they’ve never met can view several images of that person on Instagram and can view videos of their home on TikTok, which all contributes to this false intimacy.
Former newsreader describes ‘psychological rape’
Alexis Bowater, a former newsreader who was the victim of stalking, referred to the crime as “psychological rape.”
She was a broadcaster on ITV Westcountry when she began receiving threatening letters from stalker Alexander Reeve. Who falsely claimed a bomb had been planted in the studios and made threats against her and her unborn child.
Bowater tells that it is inhumane for a human to wish to torment a pregnant lady.
“My home was equipped with a Home Office-approved alarm and was linked to the local police station.
At that moment, it was a race against time between them capturing him and him capturing us.
Reeves was sentenced to four years in prison in 2009, but Bowater, who was awarded an OBE for her efforts to curb violence against women and girls, says that stalking is still “not taken seriously.”
“The punishments are too short, and there are not enough prosecutions,” she argues.
“This is a horrifying, life-destroying psychological crime.
“Ten years ago, when I first began running, people still made jokes about stalkers. Thankfully, that’s not occurring right now.”
The private detective pursuing stalkers
Laura Lyons founded a private investigation firm after experiencing stalking herself.
Her organization, Are They Safe, assists online stalking victims in identifying their attackers and receives “at least 30 calls every week” regarding this type of crime.
Ms. Lyons told: “It’s a tremendous, huge problem.”
“Since online conversations, the environment of stalking has changed drastically.
“Frequently, victims do not know who their stalker is online until (the stalker) is outside their home.
“Unfortunately, stalkers have the tools they need to follow anybody they want. Whenever they want, anonymously, thanks to online dating services.
Currently, 99 percent of stalking cases begin online.
Social media facilitates the anonymity of stalkers.
Ms. Lyons states that she works with “many public figures” who are victims of stalking.
“They must have an active social media presence,” she says. It would be difficult to locate a presenter with a private social profile.
Ms. Lyons reports that stalkers use virtual private networks (VPNs) to prevent police from locating them. Transmit spyware to victims’ emails; hack into CCTV cameras; and track victims using Apple Air Tags.
She says that it is “simple” for stalkers to create bogus identities and conceal their details on social networking sites.
“There are so many tools available to stalkers,” she states.
“It is very simple for stalkers to stay anonymous and concealed. It’s a terrible situation for the police.”
