Isla Traquair: It is time to change law to protect victims like me from stalkers

Television presenter Isla Traquair is calling on the Scottish Government to change stalking laws to better protect victims and prevent predators reoffending.

Traquair, who suffered her own ordeal at the hands of a stalker, said last week’s Sunday Post expose revealing the eight-year nightmare of Dundee teacher Leigh Martin – who faces new trauma as her stranger stalker Darren Shields, jailed three times, is preparing to be released – made her feel sick with panic.

The presenter travelled the world confronting murderers and rapists during a career that saw her moving from STV Television to the US to make documentaries with Oprah Winfrey’s production company.

But nothing prepared her for the nightmare of being personally targeted by a stalker who destroyed her dream of setting down roots after years of working abroad, leaving her fearing for her life.

Traquair said: “Even covering murders and violent crimes didn’t prepare me for the sheer terror of being stalked, watched and hunted like prey, never knowing what the man who was doing this to me was capable of, or how far he was prepared to go.

“Unless you have lived through that experience, it’s impossible to fully understand the stress, the fear that churns inside you and overtakes everything else in your life until you are scared to even look out of a window for fear that encourages the predator who fixates on you.

“After living through that nightmare, I’ve experienced just how woefully inadequate our criminal justice system currently is to deal with stalking.

“I hope the Scottish Government will listen and take the opportunity to lead the rest of the UK by making the changes that can make such a difference.”

Earlier this month Traquair, 42, watched neighbour Jonathan Barrett, 54, who began stalking her even before she fully moved into her new home, destroying the peace and safety of her idyllic cottage on the edge of the Cotswolds, in rural Wiltshire, sentenced to just 300 hours’ community service while she has been left struggling to rebuild her life.

Isla’s nightmare began almost a year ago, with Barrett even climbing on objects to spy on her even after being officially warned off by police for scaring her.

Despite Traquair being left with what she describes as “lasting psychological and physical scars as a result of stress and terror”, Barrett’s sentence earlier this month was community service and paying £715 costs.

Traquair said: “The reality of living in a constant state of panic, never knowing what Barrett was doing or what he was capable of, brought home just how inadequate our criminal justice system is at handling stalking, or understanding the impact on victims.

“Barrett’s sentence didn’t reflect the lasting damage done to me. But, worse than that, the court failed to impose a treatment programme Jailing stalkers gives victims temporary relief, but unless the predatory behaviour is addressed, sending them to prison may achieve nothing. I also found the use of Stalking Prevention Orders in England to be fraught with difficulties, so Scotland needs to find a way to make whatever we do here, far more effective.”

Brought up in Aberdeenshire, Traquair is fiercely proud of her roots. She said: “Scotland led the way with its progressive stance on coercive control in domestic abuse. We now have an opportunity to lead the way on stalking.”

Traquair is supporting calls for new police powers to access court orders that effectively prohibit stalkers from continuing their behaviour even before they are found guilty of criminal charges.

She is backing calls for treatment orders built into sentencing, a stalking register and multi-agency action similar to the Mappa (multi-agency public protection arrangements) schemes used to keep tabs on sex offenders. She backs electronic tagging, better psychological support for victims, and specialist training for police officers similar to that undergone by domestic abuse officers.

Help us before it’s too late: Demands for longer jail terms and monitoring to protect victims of stalking

Traquair said: “I would like an opportunity to speak to the Scottish Parliament and use my experience to give hundreds of others a voice.

“I’ve been inundated with messages from victims all desperate, scared and isolated because the justice system is failing them.

“When I read in The Sunday Post what had happened to Leigh Martin, I felt sick knowing her stalker is about to be released and her nightmare will begin all over again. I know how she feels as I suffer the same kind of panic she lives with.

“This is a crime that doesn’t just happen to celebrities, or people off the telly. It can happen to anyone, men as well as women. The psychological terror victims are subjected to can be every bit as life changing as any physical harm inflicted.

“In my own case, if I’d been slapped or punched, the physical pain would have healed far quicker than the psychological damage inflicted.”