The Dark Side of the Mind: True Stories from My Life as a Forensic Psychologist

by Kerry Daynes

with inadequate laws and legislation to guide them, they had failed to see the bigger picture. It was a horrible position to be in – and my insight as a forensic psychologist was proving more of a hindrance than a help. Stalking has been nicknamed ‘assault in slow motion’ because the drip-drip of stalking behaviours tends to escalate over time if left unchecked, and too frequently culminates in violence. I was only too aware that a high proportion of murders of women (94 per cent according to research conducted since then by the University of Gloucestershire) are preceded by stalking (surveillance activity, including covert watching, was recorded 63 per cent of the time by the same study). In short, not all stalkers are killers, but most killers of women start out as stalkers. But I also knew that the risk is highest where a prior intimate relationship has existed between the stalker and the victim. And – even taking into account his fevered imagination – that clearly did not apply here. I tried to reassure myself with the rational, factual evidence that it was highly unlikely that a physical attack would happen to me. I knew that stalking by a stranger was likely to escalate into violence in roughly one in ten cases, rather than the 50 per cent of cases involving former partners. And I was a professional who had made a career out of working with, and keeping my cool around,