Man arrested – as “Stalking Awareness Week” starts

IT’S “Stalking Awareness Week” – and in Warrington it started with a man being arrested for stalking in the Latchford area.
A woman reported that the man had been stalking her near her home and had also been seen on a railway embankment at the rear of her property.
The alleged offender is also due in Crown Court in relation to earlier, related allegations.
Police in Warrington are supporting the national “Stalking Awareness” campaign.
The campaign aims to highlight how no one should be living in fear of another person and encourage those who believe they are being targeted to speak to officers.
This year’s campaign, run by the Suzy Lamplugh Trust, will focus on helping officers and support workers recognise the signs of stalking at an early stage.
Under the new campaign title “Stalking Matters” local police will support the trust in focusing on the motives of the stalker, not just on specific incidents or behaviour.
The motives of a stalker can be as simple as rearranging a victim’s garden furniture, sending unwanted gifts, loitering on the pavement outside their house, or even calling social services to maliciously report ‘poor’ parenting. Although these methods of stalking may not present an immediate physical risk, it is behaviours and the obsession and fixation behind them that the trust wants to raise awareness of.
Detective Chief Superintendent Nigel Wenham said: “People don’t often realise how much of a devastating impact stalking can have on victims and the way it can quickly turn their lives completely upside down. One day someone can be living their day-to-day life and then the next they are in fear, becoming and feeling isolated, leaving the victim with huge emotional scars.
“By supporting national stalking awareness week, it will help officers not only understand how to recognise the signs of stalking but to better engage with victims as well as understand the lengths stalkers will go too. This will help us to detect stalking at an early stage in the hope of the victim not having too suffer in the long run.”
Anyone who believes they are a victim of stalking or who knows of someone who may be a victim of this crime is encouraged to speak to specialist officers by calling Cheshire Police on 101. If there is a threat to life always call 999.