Where is the JUSTICE?

Stalking is on the rise and there are calls for the police to take more action to protect victims

- RACHEL TOMPKINS

Karen fell for Thomas' easy charm and sense of humour

More than 80,000 stalking offences were recorded in England and Wales in 2020, figures from the Office for National Statistics show. Yet just 5% of stalking cases result in a charge*. Now a campaign group has made a super-complaint against the police about their lack of action. It's supported by Clive Ruggles, the father of Alice Ruggles, 24, who was murdered by an ex-boyfriend who stalked her. With the pandemic seeing a huge rise in stalking cases, and numbers continuing to soar, isn't it time more was done to protect victims? Woman Investigates...

'MY STALKER EX DROVE HIS CAR INTO MY HOUSE'

Karen Ferguson, 51, lives in Cambridgeshire with her son and daughter.

I met Thomas Ferguson in Spain when I was 31 and working as a resort manager and he was a parttime bouncer and maintenance man. He was easy company and had a great sense of humour - the first time I set eyes on him he had been roped into being on stage as part of a kids' club performance!

Three months later, when the holiday season came to an end, we moved back to the UK and into my family home in Hertfordshire. By the time our son was born a year later, in September 2003, we had settled into our own place and, despite a few financial problems, I felt content.

It was only when we went back to Spain to celebrate our son's second birthday that I first noticed a different side to Thomas. At dinner one evening, he became irrationally annoyed that our son wasn't behaving properly.