Harassment and Stalking 

The offences of harassment and stalking are closely linked. We are often asked questions about these offences. This blog explains some of the basic points.

Stalking is a course of conduct which constitutes harassment, and amounts to stalking. There are separate harassment offences.

There are two offences.  These are stalking involving fear of violence and stalking involving serious alarm or distress.

There is no strict definition, but the legislation lists certain behaviours associated with stalking such as:

Following a person,

Contacting or attempting to contact a person by any means,

Publishing material relating to a person or purporting to come from them,

Monitoring a person’s use of the internet, email or communications,

Loitering,

Interfering with any property in the possession of a person, and

Watching or spying on a person.

The offence depends upon the specific facts. Behaving in one of the above ways is not automatically stalking.

For the offence involving fear of violence it must be proven that you  caused another to fear that violence would be used against them (usually by that person giving evidence) and that you knew or ought to have known it would cause another to fear that violence will be used against them.

The test as to whether a person “ought to know” this  is whether a reasonable person in possession of the same knowledge would think that the course of conduct would cause the person to fear violence.

To be an offence the stalking must cause another to fear, on at least two occasions, that violence will be used or, it will be an offence if the conduct causes serious alarm or distress and this has a substantial effect on their day to day activities. For example changing a route they normally use, moving home or work, changing social activities or a change to a person’s physical or mental health.

It is a defence to show  that the course of conduct was either pursued for the purpose of preventing or detecting crime, pursued under a rule of law or was reasonable in the circumstances. Self-defence also applies in relation to offences involving fear of violence.

For the basic offence of stalking the maximum sentence is six months’ imprisonment.

For the offence causing fear of violence or serious alarm or distress the maximum sentence is 10 years imprisonment for an offence on or after 2 April 2017 or 5 years for offences committed prior to that date.

A Restraining Order to protect the victim from further contact can also be imposed.  This could be the case even where a defendant is found not guilty of the offence.

For free initial advice please telephone our crime team on 01606 592159.