NCJ Number
198684
Journal
Howard Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 41 Issue: 5 Dated: December 2002 Pages: 422-433
Editor(s)
Tony Fowles,
David Wilson
Date Published
December 2002
Length
12 pages
Annotation
This article explores the sufficiency of the legal response to stalking related to the penalty that can be imposed under the 1997 Protection from Harassment Act and recommendations are presented under the Halliday Report to strengthen the ability of the law to deal with persistent stalkers.
Abstract
Due to difficulties in the English legal system in formulating a precise definition of stalking, it was left as a description of a particular manifestation of an offense rather than a legal category. Under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, stalking is a species of harassment under the provisions of the Act. It is not a crime in its own right. This article begins with a review of the nature of the harm in stalking cases, followed by the statutory framework of sentencing. An examination of the restrictive definition of a “violent offense” as contained in the Powers of Criminal Court (Sentencing) Act 2000 is conducted which excludes a significant number of crimes. Under the current sentencing framework, difficulties have been identified in justifying the imposition of a custodial sentence in serious stalking cases. Potential solutions are presented through the Halliday Report recommending the introduction of a new statutory presumption that sentence severity should increase in accordance with the defendant’s history of offending. This increases the likelihood that a stalker who persists with the harassment of a victim following conviction will be sentenced to imprisonment on subsequent occasions. Limitations of the Halliday Report recommendations are discussed. References