The mum of murdered Alice Ruggles hopes Coronation Street's harrowing stalking storyline will make perpetrators aware of the fear and devastation they cause.
Over recent weeks viewers of the ITV soap have watched barmaid Daisy Midgeley, played by Charlotte Jordan, being terrorised by obsessive stranger, Justin.
After a chance meeting in a hospital waiting room the stalker, played by Andrew Still, bombards Daisy with messages and unwanted gifts, follows her and even lets himself into her home.
Fans have watched as the confident, outgoing character is reduced to a nervous wreck by Justin who makes her life a misery.
And the soap shows her failing to get help from police and the courts as her attempts to get a Stalking Protection Order (SPO) prove futile.
The storyline chillingly echoes events leading up to the tragic murder of Northumbria University graduate Alice, who was killed by her ex-boyfriend Trimaan Dhillon in Gateshead six years ago.
Today Alice's mum, who has devoted her life to raising awareness of the dangers of stalking, has praised Coronation Street for shedding light on the issue to its millions of viewers.
And while Sue Hills has not been watching the storyline herself, she told the Chronicle that she hopes any stalkers watching the soap might stop and think about the impact their actions are having on their victims.
The 62-year-old said: "I think it is a really positive thing. I think it will help people to understand the impact stalking has, which is good from the point of view of the victims and for friends of victims.
"But also for perpetrators watching to see the impact their actions have. They don't necessarily understand what they are doing."
Alice, 24, was subjected to a campaign of stalking and harassment by former soldier Dhillon after their brief but intense relationship came to an end.
Dhillon became obsessed with his ex. He began to hack into her social media accounts and bombard her with abusive calls, messages and emails.
Then on October 12, 2016, Dhillon drove 120 miles from his Army barracks in Edinburgh to Alice’s home on Rawling Road in Bensham, where he killed her. He denied murder at Newcastle Crown Court, but he was convicted by the jury and jailed for life.
Following Alice’s murder it came to light that vital opportunities to help her had been missed.
She called police just 11 days before she was killed asking for help.
She said she had become “terrified” by Dhillon’s stalking, which had also seen him make sinister visits to her home, on one occasion leaving flowers and chocolates on her window sill.
The incident was recorded as harassment, and Dhillon was issued with a Police Information Notice (PIN), but was not arrested.
The findings of an investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct, revealed that a Northumbria Police officer failed to record Dhillon’s behaviour as stalking.
And when the officer visited Alice’s home he did not access her phone, which contained messages from Dhillon, or take the flowers and chocolates he had left, which could have been used as evidence.
However, despite finding that two officers involved had a “case to answer for misconduct” the PC and sergeant kept their jobs and were dealt with via management action and further training.
Alice’s family set-up the Alice Ruggles Trust in a bid to raise awareness of stalking.
The trust has celebrated a number of successes with police forces up and down the country improving officer training and improving responses. And its work has seen the number of victims reporting stalking increase.
Coronation Street viewers have seen fictional police officers fail to take action after Daisy reports Justin's behaviour.
But Sue is urging stalking victims to continue to seek help.
"The reality is that in some police forces that is the case, but I have recently had someone from Newcastle contact us to say the the police have dealt brilliantly with their problem," she said. "People should never be put off contacting the police.
"I do have lots of sympathy with the police, they have so much to do and so little time, and there's so much criticism. It's a really hard job."
Northumbria's Police and Crime Commissioner, Kim McGuinness, has also welcomed the soap storyline, but she has described the police response depicted in Coronation Street as "misleading."
“It’s important we have storylines that highlight the seriousness of stalking although the police response depicted by the soap is disappointing and misleading," she said.
"It clearly reflects an instance where officers have got things wrong and appropriate action has not been taken.
"Understandably, there will be survivors and viewers who will feel upset and angered by this. I also know there will be plenty of police officers shouting at their screens too, wishing the story had shown how officers do get this right.
"There have been many improvements made across policing in recent years to improve how officers deal with stalking and harassment and I want to stress that if anyone is worried that someone is being stalked, whether that be the person being targeted or a family member or friend, they shouldn’t hesitate to ask for help from our police force.”
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