New Stalking Protection Orders Come Into Effect

Two hundred and thirty arrests have been made and 119 charges brought since the introduction of stalking legislation in Northern Ireland in April 2022.

Strengthening these operational powers, new Stalking Protection Orders (SPOs) have come into effect today, Thursday 19th October. These new Orders, which the Police Service can now seek from Magistrates, are an important development in helping to better protect victims or anyone connected with them, in stalking cases.

For example, subjects will be prohibited from contacting, by any means, directly or indirectly, the named person on the Order. This includes but is not limited to contact in person, calls, letters, emails, messages and social media.

They can also be prohibited from publishing any material, or making reference to any material already published, which references, refers or relates to the victim either directly or indirectly.

They can also be prohibited from entering into an agreed exclusion zone, be that an area within the town or further afield. This would include where the victim works, usual routes taken for example, walking children to school.

Some of the positive requirements include allowing officers access to the home address for the purposes of conducting risk assessments, having to re-register their home address every year, or if of no fixed address, having to attend a police station every week.

There are also further conditions that can be considered depending on the nature of the stalking behaviour.

However an Order is not an alternative to prosecution for stalking offences under the Protection from Stalking Act NI 2022, and it can be used to strengthen prosecutions as well as safeguarding victims.

Any breach of an Order is itself a criminal offence punishable by Magistrates by up to 12 months or a fine or both, or at Crown Court with imprisonment for up to five years or a fine or both.

Detective Superintendent Lindsay Fisher of the Police Service's Public Protection Branch said: "This new resource really helps us to protect victims. We are already seeing positive policing in this area with alleged offenders being arrested weekly.

"We continue to raise awareness and encourage victims to come forward with the knowledge that we now have 5,000 officers and staff trained to recognise and respond and that they take all reports seriously.

"The operationalisation of SPOs now allows our officers to take swift and decisive action, putting restrictions in place and enforcing breaches, treating them as criminal offences.

"Our readiness to take action in this way we hope will have a hugely positive effect on the confidence people have in coming forward, knowing that in Northern Ireland we take stalking incredibly seriously."

Research suggests that on average, victims of stalking may suffer up to 100 incidents before reporting to Police and there have been cases in England where stalking behaviours have fatally escalated.

Across the Police Service's corporate social media accounts (@PoliceServiceNI), the common misconceptions about stalking will be challenged and awareness raised about the new protection orders.

Detective Superintendent Fisher adds: "I think many people when they hear the word 'stalking' will think of someone lurking in the shadows. Stalking can actually take many forms and can be online as well as in person. It is a pattern of behaviours that is fixated, obsessive, unwanted and repeated. We now have another tool in our armour to protect victims from this debilitating and dangerous crime."