Nearly 1,000 incidents of stalking have been reported to Dyfed-Powys Police in the past year, the force has revealed as it marks Stalking Awareness Week.

As it takes part in a national campaign raising awareness of the devastating impact of stalking, Dyfed-Powys Police has released its latest figures around the crime type, confirming that it logs around three calls every day reporting stalking behaviour.

In a social media campaign running this week, Dyfed-Powys Police is also sharing the real life experiences of two women who have suffered from the terrifying actions of a stalker, highlighting the signs of stalking, and advising on where to find help and support.

Detective Inspector Katie Cuthbertson said: “It is incredibly important that we as a force support Stalking Awareness Week, as not only is working towards the elimination of stalking one of our force priorities, but we know the overwhelming effect it can have on victims.

“Anyone can become a victim of stalking, and while a significant proportion of victims are stalked by former partners, perpetrators can be acquaintances or even strangers with no connection at all to their victims.

“It is still a very misunderstood crime type, and we are using this week to educate our communities about just how serious it can be.”

Since Stalking Awareness Week 2024, Dyfed-Powys Police has recorded 990 instances of stalking, and currently has 186 live stalking investigations running. It also has six Stalking Protection Orders in place against offenders.

A number of these reports will relate to the same perpetrators, as stalking behaviour is defined as fixated, obsessive, unwanted and repeated against a victim.

DI Cuthbertson added: “Stalking behaviours can appear innocuous, from leaving flowers and gifts, to sending frequent messages, which makes it difficult for victims to explain to family and friends why they are living in fear.

“The true risk to the victim is often masked by the appearance of low-level offending behaviours, however it is considered a high risk crime type.”

As part of the force’s communications, two victims of stalking have shared their stories in an effort to highlight the impact this behaviour can have.

One described feeling ‘hyper vigilant’ and constantly on edge following her former partner’s actions, while the other feels ‘like a prisoner in her own home’ after a man she barely knew stalked her for 12 years.

“I would like to thank these two women for speaking out and sharing their experiences, which will undoubtedly help others to understand not only the signs of stalking, but how it can turn victims’ lives upside down,” DI Cuthbertson said.

“The impact of stalking often has a substantial adverse effect upon a victim's life and stalking without violence can still cause harm. Their voice needs to be heard in every case.”

To find out more about stalking, what measures police can put in place to protect you if you fear you are being stalked, and where to turn for help, click here: Stalking and harassment | Dyfed-Powys Police

‘Being stalked has left me feeling like a prisoner in my own home’

A woman who was stalked by a stranger for 12 years has described how she feels like a prisoner in her own home as a result of his obsessive and controlling behaviour.

Unable to feel safe in her own home, garden or town, be alone at any time, or leave her doors unlocked without being by gripped by fear, Lara’s life has been completely torn apart by a man she met by chance and who – at first – seemed completely harmless.

Lara, whose name we have changed to protect her identity, has shared her story as part of Stalking Awareness Week in the hope of raising awareness of the devastating impact of stalking behaviour, and the ways in which victims can be supported.

Her ordeal began more than a decade ago, when she came across David through his work. While he appeared to be friendly, his obsessive personality soon began to show as he instigated daily contact and made his intentions clear with flowers and a note. This soon made Lara feel uneasy, and when he put forward the idea of moving in together after a very short period of time, Lara persuaded him to back off.

Or so she thought.

“I thought that was it,” she said. “However, over the following years I regularly saw his car in my town. He began to infiltrate every part of my community – shops, workplaces, schools, events, businesses.

“Through his work he cemented his position in my community

“I saw him at least once a week in town, school, or wherever I seemed to be, and while it scared and angered me because I couldn’t understand it or work out what he was doing, I couldn’t report it.

“It was so manipulative and clever.”

Once he had built a circle of trust in the people Lara knew, his behaviour evolved into what she describes as ‘visible stalking’. She noticed that he was repeatedly driving to her street, and then he began parking a few doors down from her house.

Eventually, Lara would see him regularly sitting outside her home, watching her from his car. Even one day when she drove 13 miles away from home to safely get a coffee, her day was shattered when her security camera showed he was at her home.

“Looking back, I fully believe those long term, slow burn actions were stalking, but it took the blatant act of him repeatedly watching me in my home, outside my front drive and windows, for me to realise how serious it was,” she said.

“My whole life changed. I closed my social media down for a year which totally isolated me from any friends and online contact and connections.

“I could not leave the house without my phone in my hand recording ready to gather evidence .

“I had to install a camera and extra security and could no longer do simple tasks such as open the back door to put the rubbish out, let the cat in and out, or go out to my garden safely.

“I had to close off my front window with different curtains, I could no longer answer the phone safely, go to my local town safely, or talk to people as I was terrified they would pass information back to him or his associates or business.

“I couldn’t do anything. I was completely held prisoner by managing my safety, fear, and paranoia.

“I was scared of every car that came near my house, scared of every voice I heard outside, scared of the police, scared of associates who didn’t all believe or support me.

“My child and I kept a hammer upstairs. It was all consuming.”

At this point, Lara reported David to the police. She gathered evidence of his behaviour including times and dates, and submitted photos and videos.

Twice, officers applied for a stalking protection order, however both were refused at court due to the evidence threshold being too high at the time. Finally, a third application was successful as even more evidence to cement the case had been gathered, and Lara was granted a stalking protection order. The threshold for such high evidence has now been lowered by the Home Office.

A stalking protection order is a civil order which is an effective means of managing a suspect, with the aim of protecting the victim and providing them with a formal acknowledgement of their concerns. It is applied for by police, and a breach of an order is a criminal offence. The order can prevent the suspect from doing certain things, such as not being able to contact or approach the victim, or restricting online activity, or going to certain places, such as near or to the victim’s home, workplace, or other defined areas the victim visits regularly. Under a stalking protection order, the perpetrator might also have to attend an intervention programme, undergo a mental health assessment, surrender their electronic devices, or sign in at a police station.

However, the impact of David’s behaviour has changed Lara’s life forever.

“I could never imagine what a man’s fixation could cause and do to my life,” she said. “It was psychological terror, and it pushed me to feeling suicidal.

“It took up all my time – constant days and hours taken up by police contact that left me hyper vigilant, with extreme anxiety.

“I had to accept my stalker was an unknown quantity, had an interest in weapons and militaria, that I did not know any history, mental health, or behaviours enough, so my life genuinely felt at risk.

“I got used to the fact I could be killed. I instructed my parents what to do if I was – I expected it. Being alive, not being physically harmed felt a bonus. Like I was one of the lucky ones.

“My stalking was mostly purely psychological and that was his MO. It wasn’t about gifts, or following me, online contact or notes, threats or physical harm – it was all power and control.”

While she is still struggling to live with the effects of her experience, Lara hopes that in sharing her story she can raise awareness of stalking, and encourage more support for victims and survivors.

“Stalking is entirely misunderstood as an act of passion, attraction and flattering,” she said. “It is murder in slow motion, a pre-cursor to most murders of women.

“I was made to feel that I should be flattered. It was minimalised as the actions of a weird man just acting overly interested, and what a ‘strange thing’ to happen to me, but it needs to be seen as the act of psychological terror that it is.

“My message to anyone who knows of a survivor of stalking is to listen, show loyalty and support and most of all, believe them because if society as a whole, the police and all agencies pull together on making sure stalking is completely unacceptable, by empowering the victim and disempowering the offender, positive change can happen.”

‘I feel like I’ve come out of a warzone after being stalked’ | Stalking Awareness Week

A woman has shared her experience of being stalked by her former partner as part of Stalking Awareness Week 2025

“I’m hyper vigilant and constantly on edge. I feel like I’ve come out of a warzone.”

These are the words of a woman who was stalked for months on end by a former partner who followed her, insisted on night-long video calls, and even listened in on her through an Alexa.

When Megan met Dean in 2021 she was in a vulnerable place. Her previous long-term relationship had just broken down, and she was suddenly navigating life as a newly single mother.

Dean made all the right promises, making Megan believe he would be there for her and her children, and they quickly formed an intense relationship. Within months, she was pregnant, and in her words, “trapped”.

“I now know he targets vulnerable women,” she said. “He was very charming, he wanted to give me the world. Looking back, I can see he was love bombing me, it wasn’t real.”

Megan explained how Dean would ask her to stay on video calls all night, claiming he was worried about her and their unborn child. However, she later realised this was a mechanism for control.

She ended the relationship shortly after the birth of their baby as a result of his drinking, drug-taking and cheating. Despite this, she made efforts to co-parent, and actively encouraged him to spend time with their baby.

This is where she says his mental abuse began.

“I was so tired,” she said. “I was up most of the night feeding her, I was looking after my other children, it was exhausting.

“He would have the baby for an hour at a time. He would pick her up in the morning, take her on the school run and then drop her back off with me. At the school gate he looked like this hero dad who had the baby while I was sleeping.

“He would tell me he was always looking after her, when in reality he fed and bathed her once in three months – he made me feel as if I was going crazy.

“But I had to try. If I called him out, the tears would start and he would threaten to kill himself. He knew that would make me stop.”

His controlling behaviour escalated, and soon Dean was using any means possible to make his presence known in Megan’s life. He would listen in on her home through her Alexa, make multiple video calls a day so he could see where she was and who she was with, and send music to her TV via YouTube at all times of the day and night. He walked past her house several times a day, and on the one occasion she went out without her phone, he followed her in a car to check on her location.

“One night he said he couldn’t get hold of me,” she said. “He was ringing and ringing and ringing, so eventually I said I’d fallen asleep. He threatened to take the baby from me, so I called the police.

“When they arrived, I could see him walking up the street towards my house. He was phoning me, and claimed he was worried because I wasn’t answering his calls – again, he was saying the right things to look like a good dad.

“He was arrested, but I didn’t want to press charges at that point. I wanted it to be a warning, that I wasn’t going to stand for his behaviour.”

The next time the pair had arranged for Dean to see the baby, something happened that would change Megan’s life forever. Dean assaulted Megan by intentional strangulation, and was arrested immediately.

Despite being imposed with bail conditions not to contact Megan, he continued to stalk her. She made 57 calls to Dyfed-Powys Police within a year, reporting every incident, regardless of how small they appeared to be. She was put in contact with the force’s domestic abuse and stalking perpetrator schemes coordinator for her case to be assessed.

“He walked past my house several times a day, he was phoning my sibling, and I was getting calls from a private number,” Megan said. “He would stare into my house, and he would follow me into shops.

“I reported it all, but he was very clever about it. Before he walked past my house he would cough. I couldn’t report him to the police for coughing, but he was making it clear to me that he was there. When he followed me into the shop, he would stare at me and then leave. He would only be in the shop long enough for me to see him, so I couldn’t say he had done anything wrong. These aren’t crimes on their own, but all together it was textbook stalking behaviour.

“I was in constant fear of where he might turn up next. I was asked if I was fearful for my life, and yes, I was. He was taking drugs, he had strangled me, he couldn’t see his child, he could have done anything.”

Megan fitted cameras to her home, changed her wifi passwords, had extra smoke alarms fitted, and a fire box put on her letterbox. She installed a camera doorbell and added chains to her door.

Within three days of the stalking coordinator assessing the case, Dean had been arrested again. He was charged with intentional strangulation and assault by beating, however officers were told there was not sufficient evidence to meet the threshold for stalking.

Unfortunately, the CPS dropped the charges against Dean before a trial could take place.

“I was asked if I wanted to move to a women’s refuge, but I turned the offer down,” she said. “This is my children’s home, I’ve made it comfortable for them, and didn’t want to disrupt their lives by moving. I had to make the decision to leave our home or take what felt like a risk in staying.

“I didn’t sleep. I stayed awake in case he turned up – I needed to be constantly ready to react. I was so exhausted.

“Even now, I’m hyper vigilant and constantly on edge. I feel like I’ve come out of a warzone.”

When criminal proceedings were dropped, Megan was granted a non-molestation order against Dean. This prohibits him from using or threatening physical violence, intimidating, harassing, pestering, or communicating with her. It is one of a number of legal orders that can be put in place to protect victims of domestic abuse, stalking and harassment (find out more here: Protective orders | Dyfed-Powys Police).

Despite criminal proceedings not being completed, Megan feels she was supported by police during her ordeal, and praises some of the initiatives being used to tackle domestic abuse, stalking and harassment. In particular she benefitted from using the new Domestic Abuse Video Response Unit, which resulted in quicker response times when she made reports.

While she still lives with the effects of Dean’s behaviour, Megan hopes that in sharing her experience she can encourage others to reach out for help.

“My advice for anyone going through anything similar would be to keep reporting incidents to the police,” she said. “Don’t wait until things have escalated to reach out – no matter how small it might seem, every phone call is a part of a picture. Without the history, the perpetrator will just say they haven’t done anything wrong.

“I’m passionate about this. I want to use what I’ve been through to make a change for my children and for theirs.”

To find out about the signs of stalking, click here: What to do now if you're being stalked or harassed | Dyfed-Powys Police