Escalation
22/05/2010
As expected, the eviction
notice was served on Ms Souren a few days ago - and also as expected
I am now being held responsible for it.
I have received a number of abusive emails from Ms Souren which have
been forwarded to the police, and a number of articles have appeared
on her various web sites detailing her version of events and appealing
for others to step forward and corroborate her story. I see too that
the list of crimes for which I am apparently responsible has grown in
size and strangeness, and that my supposed reason for hounding her in
this fashion for the last couple of years was to express my love for
her. Below are a number of comments from one such article that appeared
on her Myspace profile:
"I filed a crime
report for ID theft, harassment and credit card fraud. The police said
they did not have the manpower to investigate."
"The police did have the manpower to circle around me three cars
at a time or up to eight times in half an hour to play stupid games
on behalf of said tech and follow me around in this town, and play other
stupid games with me."
"The police kept giving me utter nonsense crap every time when
I asked them what they were doing about my crime report."
"The local police JUMPS at his stupid game crap yet failed to protect
me. Why why why? What power does this guy hold over the local police?
(Money?)"
"He did make clear he saw this whole thing as “loving” me. I don’t."
"Even in the utterly lawless United Kingdom, women have a right
to live. Because I suspect that it's only women who have been harassed
by this guy (but I can't rule out that gay's have been victimized by
him too)."
"I have attempted to end this nonsense amicably several times and
it was always met with ridicule or worse. This morning I decided that
I will be the last person this guy did this sort of stuff to. He needs
to get a life, one of his own."
In August of 2010 I received
two emails out of the blue from Ms Souren. Both emails were hard to
follow, but alluded to my being responsible for ongoing harassment.
Some of this was quite bizarre, for example:
I found that last sentence
particularly chilling.
It was also made clear that the letting agency had started final proceedings
to have her evicted from her flat due to non-payment of 5 month's rent.
She also claimed to owe 6 months arrears on gas and electricity. I
again contacted the police and forwarded the emails - another breach
of the no-contact harassment order - and a warrant for Ms Souren's arrest
was duly issued. A
few days later a colleague sent me a screen shot of Ms Souren's Facebook
blog in which she spoke of there being "a local guy who pays
people to harass me. Spends a lot of money on it too."
Ms Souren was arrested on the 26th August 2010 and taken to Portsmouth custody centre where she was supplied with a duty solicitor and interviewed. She was given an 'adult caution'. This is a step down from a criminal record, but it means she now has a permanent police record that shows she has been arrested for harassment. It's effectively the last stop before a court hearing. If the police feel her future actions constitute further harassment she will be arrested again and placed before a mental health assessment committee to determine whether or not she is of sound enough mind to be tried in court.
Subsequent to her arrest she claimed (on her Myspace profile) to have moved back to Holland. She hadn't, of course:
"Yes, folks, I have moved back to Amsterdam. Amsterdam has lots of people - I'd been missing that so much! - and lots of high-quality music."
A few days later the following appeared on her business web site (smarterscience.com):
On September 4th the following appeared on her Smarterscience twitter profile:
"Why is stalking and harassing only taken seriously by the stalker/harasser, and not by the victim and others until it is way too late?"
Subsequent to this a lengthy
article appeared on her Myspace profile. It repeated many of the 'instances'
of harassment I'd previously been accused of as well as adding a few
more for good measure (killing animals and leaving them on her doorstep,
for example - and, quite bizarrely, mutilating a peach).
The gist of the article proposed that a clever 'stalker and harasser'
could work the system in such a manner as to make it appear that the
victim was in fact the harasser:
"2. The numbers of men and women claiming harassment also need to be put in perspective. A local police officer confirmed to me that basically anyone can claim that someone else is harassing them. (That can give real stalkers and harassers carte blanche! A male stalker and harasser can simply claim that the woman he is stalking and harassing is harassing him, making it almost impossible for his victim to take any steps against her stalker and harasser in the UK, where there is still very little respect for and acceptance of women.). For example, British men often feel that they are being harassed when a woman their own age is merely being civil, nothing more. The only thing such a woman is "guilty" of is the fact that she is not twenty years younger than the man."
The whole article was written
in the form of a 'guide' for those who are being harassed, complete
with references to support agencies. What was especially galling was
that many of the harassment techniques she urged readers to watch out
for were exactly those she has been using against me for the last few
years.
She also commented on the need to gather evidence, and how hard (if
not impossible) it was to do this. I agree that it's time-consuming,
though by no means impossible - it's something I've been forced to do
for years. It may also explain why her own complaints to the police
have not met with any success - she has been asked for evidence, but
has not been able or willing to supply any.
There were also a number of references to her business being affected,
her lack of income being put down to the perceived harassment.
In addition to the Myspace profile, Ms Souren was known to have at least
five Twitter profiles running as well as a Facebook one. I daresay there
would have been others - and I would tentatively suggest that being
self-employed and spending a great deal of time maintaining multiple
blog profiles probably isn't a sound business idea.
On the 19th of October I
was informed that the date for the final court case relating to the
eviction notice will be around the end of October - this will determine
the date on which the bailiffs will be given permission to repossess
her rented flat. I would not normally be expected to be informed of
such events as they have no bearing on my case as such, but the police
are very much aware that as I appear to be the main focus for Ms Souren's
anger, such information is useful in helping me to assess the personal
risk. Neither I or the police have forgotten the death threats.
As expected, there has been the usual outpouring from Ms Souren's various
blogs. I now appear to be to blame for most of Britain's woes. These
are from one of her Twitter profiles:
"SciTechWoman: Mr H, you are rude and disrespectful. You are among those who broke Britain."
"SciTechWoman: I think it's adults - some of them school governors - who taught British kids its okay to go out, harass and stone other adults. #deaths"
The last comment refers to
my years as a school governor.
I am in good company, apparently, with solicitors, court clerks, policemen,
English Heritage etc. all being responsible for her discontent.
It would also appear, as expected, that Ms Souren is taking further steps to get her version of events across:
"SciTechWoman: If you've seen my bursts of anger and deep bitterness with regard to the British from time to time, and want the background, let me know."
...and some time later:
"SciTechWoman: For
the record, for those who don't know: a sociopath's harassed me for
about 2.5 yrs. It's turned my life into the nightmare from hell.
SciTechWoman: There is nothing I can do about it. I have filed a crime
report as far back as Oct 2008. Have asked for restraining order, too.
April 2009.
SciTechWoman: The creep's too cunning and I am too dumb."
The following exchange on Twitter illustrates Ms Souren's paranoid outlook. 1000Girlfriends posted some messages to SciTechWoman and prefaced them with 'RT'. In Twitter terms with would be 're-tweet', which is a way of indicating a quote - the effect of which is that the comments appeared to be made by SciTechWoman rather than 1000Girlfriends.
"SciTechWoman: @1000Girlfriends
What the hell do you think you are doing, pretending to RT me yet writing
your own opinions?
SciTechWoman: Steve: PISS OFF!!! Asshole.
1000Girlfriends: @SciTechWoman: Sorry, I forgot to take the RT out on
a few. My shortcut problems"
From viewing 1000Girlfriends'
profile it is evident that it is a bona-fide ID, linked to a large and
active website - as opposed to an anonymous identity set up for the
purpose of harassment.
The 'piss off' comment was later removed, but it clearly demonstrates
how I am seen to be behind even the most innocent of exchanges.
It now appears that the outbursts
on the 19th of October were in response to the court case relating to
Ms Souren's eviction, and as I write it is but a few weeks away. If
she has not vacated her flat by then, the bailiffs will be called in.
Should they be required to do so they have been advised that a police
presence is essential.
She has now had her gas supply cut off for non-payment of bills.
"My gas is being
disconnected as we speak. Courtesy local harassment."
A number of threatening posts appeared yesterday on her Twitter (Scitechwoman) profile:
"I was harassed to
death by someone who decided to do this the second he saw me, 2.5 years
ago..."
"His name is Stephen Howard, and he is a criminal"
She earlier claimed to have called the police, and had been cut off:
"Contacted the police, was disconnected."
Some time later she was visited by the police:
I initially thought they
may have called round in response to my being named, which would have
been a very rapid response indeed, but it turned out that they were
called by neighbours who found bizarre notes stuck to their doors, and
in some cases had objects thrown at the doors.
A very troubling message appeared on her Myspace profile:
She also now appears to have taken on the role of a feminist activist, with a number of posts proclaiming that the use of the word 'Miss', and other colloquialisms, is demeaning:
I noted this violent tendency
some time ago - there have been many references to stabbing (myself
and others), and there is now a very real risk that she might attack
anyone within reach.
The police Public Protection Unit have been notified by the officer
handling this case and it now seems likely that she will be sectioned
under the mental health act.
I am somewhat relieved in a way to find that other people have now complained
about her behaviour - although it surely cannot be pleasant for them
it at least reassures me that I'm not alone, and that although I have
been the sole focus of her insanity for the last few years it could
just as well have been anyone else.
I had a visit from the police
today, who brought me up to date with the case. I expressed my concern
that Ms Souren's mental state was deteriorating rapidly and that she
not only represented a threat to others but to herself. A couple of
days later this lot appeared on her Twitter profile:
I informed the police of these developments on the basis that her being taken into custody would prevent further harm from coming to her.
The diatribes continued in
much the same manner as above until the 14th of December, on which day
Ms Souren was finally evicted from her flat by the court bailiffs.
They were accompanied by police officers and representatives from the
RSPCA. Ms Souren was arrested and sectioned under the mental health
act and her pets were taken into care by the RSPCA.
At present she is being held in a secure institution pending mental
assessment and treatment.
It appears that they neglected to ensure she had no access to the internet, as she managed to post a few of the usual comments - including a reprise of "If you can read this message it means I'm dead" on her business website:
Unsurprisingly she managed
to post a few more messages the next day - so she was either not very
dead or typing from beyond the grave.
The police were made aware and will be taking steps to have her access
to the internet restricted.
I am hoping that this brings
to a close the unfortunate saga that has plagued me these last two years.
It appears unlikely that I will be able to bring a prosecution - given
that it's very hard to prosecute someone who is now officially 'not
of sound mind' - and in all honesty I believe that the best outcome
can be achieved by those who currently have charge of Ms Souren.
Time will tell.
Most of the above was written in 2010, and that 'Time will tell' was written in a spirit of optimism. It seemed clear to me, and the police, that she'd now get the help she obviously needed - and that I could put this wholly dreadful business behind me. But it was not to be...