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| Alice Ruggles murder: IPCC to investigate after victim felt 'palmed off' | Alice Ruggles murder: IPCC to investigate after victim felt 'palmed off' |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| It was just after midnight when Alice Ruggles decided to call the police. “Hi there, I just need a bit of advice really,” she began, typically polite and well mannered. Her ex-boyfriend had hacked into her Facebook and emails, she said, and was bombarding her and her friends with messages. | It was just after midnight when Alice Ruggles decided to call the police. “Hi there, I just need a bit of advice really,” she began, typically polite and well mannered. Her ex-boyfriend had hacked into her Facebook and emails, she said, and was bombarding her and her friends with messages. |
| Earlier that night he had turned up outside her flat in Gateshead, driving 120 miles from Edinburgh to wait near the front and back doors, leaving flowers and chocolates on her window ledge before disappearing. “He’s not done anything, but I’m concerned,” Alice said. “My friends have been telling me to call the police and I’ve been putting it off, but I just feel a bit shaken up tonight.” | Earlier that night he had turned up outside her flat in Gateshead, driving 120 miles from Edinburgh to wait near the front and back doors, leaving flowers and chocolates on her window ledge before disappearing. “He’s not done anything, but I’m concerned,” Alice said. “My friends have been telling me to call the police and I’ve been putting it off, but I just feel a bit shaken up tonight.” |
| The police call handler arranged for another officer to take an official statement the following day. Alice’s ex-boyfriend, Trimaan Dhillon, would be issued with a harassment warning known as a “police information notice,” the call handler said, meaning that if he tried to contact her again he would be arrested. That, Alice hoped, would put an end to it. | The police call handler arranged for another officer to take an official statement the following day. Alice’s ex-boyfriend, Trimaan Dhillon, would be issued with a harassment warning known as a “police information notice,” the call handler said, meaning that if he tried to contact her again he would be arrested. That, Alice hoped, would put an end to it. |
| Twelve days later, the 24-year-old was found murdered on her bathroom floor, her throat slit from ear to ear. Dhillon was quickly identified as the chief suspect and arrested. He was jailed for life with a minimum of 22 years in April for what the judge called “an act of utter barbarism”. | |
| This week, a year after the murder, the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) launched its own investigation into Northumbria police’s handling of the case amid serious questions about the events that led to that night, and wider concerns that the criminal justice system is failing victims of stalking and domestic abuse. | This week, a year after the murder, the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) launched its own investigation into Northumbria police’s handling of the case amid serious questions about the events that led to that night, and wider concerns that the criminal justice system is failing victims of stalking and domestic abuse. |
| A Northumbria University graduate who worked for the broadcaster Sky in Newcastle, Ruggles met Dhillon – who went by the name “Harry” – through a mutual friend while he was serving in Afghanistan with the Royal Highland Fusiliers 2 Scots. They developed an intense relationship over the internet, meeting for the first time three months later in January last year. | A Northumbria University graduate who worked for the broadcaster Sky in Newcastle, Ruggles met Dhillon – who went by the name “Harry” – through a mutual friend while he was serving in Afghanistan with the Royal Highland Fusiliers 2 Scots. They developed an intense relationship over the internet, meeting for the first time three months later in January last year. |
| The budding relationship soon turned sour. Alice’s friends described how the popular former public schoolgirl lost all her confidence as Dhillon, 25, made nasty comments about her appearance or her going out with friends. She lost weight, stopped exercising and became alienated from her friends. Photographs from a family holiday in Cornwall show Alice at her lowest. “In retrospect, when we look at the photos, in some she looks just haunted,” said Alice’s mother, Dr Sue Hills, a teacher at Leicester high school for girls. | The budding relationship soon turned sour. Alice’s friends described how the popular former public schoolgirl lost all her confidence as Dhillon, 25, made nasty comments about her appearance or her going out with friends. She lost weight, stopped exercising and became alienated from her friends. Photographs from a family holiday in Cornwall show Alice at her lowest. “In retrospect, when we look at the photos, in some she looks just haunted,” said Alice’s mother, Dr Sue Hills, a teacher at Leicester high school for girls. |
| Alice ended the relationship last August when she caught him cheating with a woman he had met on Tinder. She initially became happier “because she didn’t feel like she was trapped with him”, Hills said. From that moment, however, Dhillon’s obsession with Alice became sinister. | Alice ended the relationship last August when she caught him cheating with a woman he had met on Tinder. She initially became happier “because she didn’t feel like she was trapped with him”, Hills said. From that moment, however, Dhillon’s obsession with Alice became sinister. |
| He hacked into her Facebook account to monitor her movements, sent her pleading messages and crying selfies, and asked her mother over social media to intervene. When he discovered she might be starting a new relationship, he stalked her ground floor flat at night, terrifying her. | He hacked into her Facebook account to monitor her movements, sent her pleading messages and crying selfies, and asked her mother over social media to intervene. When he discovered she might be starting a new relationship, he stalked her ground floor flat at night, terrifying her. |
| The final straw came just after midnight on 1 October last year, when Dhillon drove the 240-mile round-trip to Alice’s flat with flowers and chocolates before telling her in a voicemail that he did not want to kill her. Alice called the police and Dhillon was issued with a formal harassment notice. In her official police statement the following day, she said: “I’m scared and terrified of his actions. I’m being stalked and want it to stop.” | The final straw came just after midnight on 1 October last year, when Dhillon drove the 240-mile round-trip to Alice’s flat with flowers and chocolates before telling her in a voicemail that he did not want to kill her. Alice called the police and Dhillon was issued with a formal harassment notice. In her official police statement the following day, she said: “I’m scared and terrified of his actions. I’m being stalked and want it to stop.” |
| A few days later he sent her a parcel of photos and a pleading letter begging her to take him back. Alice called police again on 7 October and this time was asked whether she wanted him arrested. She declined, and no action was taken. | A few days later he sent her a parcel of photos and a pleading letter begging her to take him back. Alice called police again on 7 October and this time was asked whether she wanted him arrested. She declined, and no action was taken. |
| “We were particularly hurt by that,” Hills said, who thinks Alice was probably scared of ruining Dhillon’s career. “The first time round it was like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders because she genuinely believed the police could do something to stop him stalking her. | “We were particularly hurt by that,” Hills said, who thinks Alice was probably scared of ruining Dhillon’s career. “The first time round it was like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders because she genuinely believed the police could do something to stop him stalking her. |
| “She went from being really, really unhappy and stressed to being almost back to her normal bubbly self. Then when the second call happened she was just devastated. She felt she was on her own, that she had to deal with it herself.” | “She went from being really, really unhappy and stressed to being almost back to her normal bubbly self. Then when the second call happened she was just devastated. She felt she was on her own, that she had to deal with it herself.” |
| Although she had said no to his arrest, Alice told her housemate she felt “palmed off” by the police. She also told her sister Emma: “They’ll respond when he stabs me.” Three days later Dhillon returned to Alice’s flat on reconnaissance, taking a photograph of the bathroom window where he planned to break in. Forty-eight hours later he was back, and this time put his deadly plan into action. | Although she had said no to his arrest, Alice told her housemate she felt “palmed off” by the police. She also told her sister Emma: “They’ll respond when he stabs me.” Three days later Dhillon returned to Alice’s flat on reconnaissance, taking a photograph of the bathroom window where he planned to break in. Forty-eight hours later he was back, and this time put his deadly plan into action. |
| Two days before she died, Alice called her mother to say she was still scared after her second call to the police. “I said to her: ‘The police know what they’re doing. You’ve just got to keep ignoring him and he’ll eventually leave you alone.’ Actually, that was a bad thing for me to say,” said Hills, who has said she will forever feel racked with guilt about not taking Dhillon’s threat seriously. “We felt there was some sort of management going on and that was how the police were dealing with it.” | Two days before she died, Alice called her mother to say she was still scared after her second call to the police. “I said to her: ‘The police know what they’re doing. You’ve just got to keep ignoring him and he’ll eventually leave you alone.’ Actually, that was a bad thing for me to say,” said Hills, who has said she will forever feel racked with guilt about not taking Dhillon’s threat seriously. “We felt there was some sort of management going on and that was how the police were dealing with it.” |
| Alice’s family later discovered that police had previously given Dhillon a restraining order for harassing another ex-girlfriend. It remains unclear whether the second police call handler was aware of Dhillon’s previous order. A Northumbria police internal investigation did not find any evidence of misconduct by an individual officer. | Alice’s family later discovered that police had previously given Dhillon a restraining order for harassing another ex-girlfriend. It remains unclear whether the second police call handler was aware of Dhillon’s previous order. A Northumbria police internal investigation did not find any evidence of misconduct by an individual officer. |
| Alice’s parents, who have set up the Alice Ruggles Trust to raise awareness of stalking, said they were “very disappointed” with the force’s internal inquiry and felt their daughter’s case had been badly mishandled. Hills said the family did not want to “pin blame on individual officers ... that misses the point that stalking is not dealt with correctly at a much higher level than that. | Alice’s parents, who have set up the Alice Ruggles Trust to raise awareness of stalking, said they were “very disappointed” with the force’s internal inquiry and felt their daughter’s case had been badly mishandled. Hills said the family did not want to “pin blame on individual officers ... that misses the point that stalking is not dealt with correctly at a much higher level than that. |
| “What about the people who were supervising those officers? What about the policy of Northumbria police? Why wasn’t that looked at? Those were the things that we were particularly disappointed about in the initial investigation. We looked at it and thought: the worst thing is that the next Alice that comes along is going to get the same treatment, and then there’ll be another person murdered.” | “What about the people who were supervising those officers? What about the policy of Northumbria police? Why wasn’t that looked at? Those were the things that we were particularly disappointed about in the initial investigation. We looked at it and thought: the worst thing is that the next Alice that comes along is going to get the same treatment, and then there’ll be another person murdered.” |