The latest Netflix mini-series Baby Reindeer tells a harrowing real-life tale of a comedian being stalked and harassed by a lawyer. It is more than just a story of someone being stalked and harassed, and the fact that ‘men can be stalked and harassed too’. It sheds light on the complexity of realising oneself having become the victim of harassment when he/she is already in a place of psychological darkness.
Background
In 2015, a lawyer named Martha walked into a pub in London where a comedian Donny with a troubled past worked at looking miserable. He offered her a cup of tea followed by a long conversation. Since then, for over three years, Martha carried out a campaign of harassment against Donny by incessantly sending him (over 41,000) emails and messages, following him at work, turning up at his gigs, sexually assaulting him and leaving him (over 350 hour-long) voicemails after getting hold of his phone number. When Donny initially went to the police about Martha’s disconcerting behaviour, his claim was dismissed by the police for lack of evidence. As Donny tried to gather more evidence by entrapping Martha, he realised that Martha was recording every conversation that she ever had with him and was counter-accused of harassing her. Martha was eventually arrested and charged with stalking and harassment, to which she pled guilty, and, received a nine-month imprisonment and a five-year restraining order.
Harassment
As discussed in our previous blog, harassment is not defined in the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 (PHA), which states that harassment is formed by acts that cause alarm/distress of another or are so oppressive and unreasonable that the defendant ought to know amounts to harassment of the other. This is an objective test and considers whether a reasonable person with the same information as the defendant would be aware that his/her actions would amount to harassment.
The show starts off with the police asking Donny why it took him 6 months to report the alleged offence by Martha. He was reluctant to say that he initially felt sorry for Martha and enjoyed the attention from her. This often happens in real life as the victim sympathises with the perpetrator’s loneliness and potentially mental health issues, and, in more extreme cases like Donny’s, finds comfort in being attended which prevents him/her from reporting the same to the police immediately and subsequently, making it more difficult to sustain a civil harassment claim.
In the case of Dowson and Others v The Chief Constable of Northumbria Police [2010] EWHC 2612 (QB), the Court stated that a civil harassment claim would only succeed if the claimant could show that the conduct:
- Occurred at least twice (which is also a requirement under the PHA);
- Was calculated in an objective sense to cause alarm and distress; and
- Was objectively judged to be oppressive and unreasonable, which would depend on the context of the conduct.
A line should be drawn between conduct that was unattractive and unreasonable and that which could be described as torment of the victim ‘of an order which would sustain criminal liability’. The alleged misconduct must be sufficiently serious to attract criminal liability to give rise to either a civil or criminal offence under the PHA.
The conduct of Martha certainly sustained criminal liability as evidenced by her being convicted of harassment and stalking. However, it was arguable whether Donny was alarmed and distressed at all times material to this case as a part of him admitted that, at some point, he enjoyed the attention from Martha and even acted upon his impulsion, if not intention, to form a casual relationship with Martha.
Comment
In Baby Reindeer, Donny did not make a civil harassment claim against Martha after she was sentenced. He could have done so given that there was an overwhelming amount of evidence in relation to Martha’s persistently oppressive and unreasonable behaviour. There is doubt that his decision was a result of the consideration of Martha’s financial situation but more of the realisation of the reason why he was always called ‘baby reindeer’ by Martha.
How can Nelsons help
Ronny Tang is an Associate in our expert Dispute Resolution team, specialising in defamation claims, contentious probate and inheritance claims, Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996 claims, Equality Act 2010 claims and Protection From Harassment 1997 claims.
If you need any advice concerning the subject discussed in this article, please do not hesitate to contact Ronny or another member of the team in Derby, Leicester, or Nottingham on 0800 024 1976 or via our online enquiry form.