About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

9 Eur. J. Crime Crim. L. & Crim Just. 209 (2001)
The Stalking Phenomenon: Trends in European and International Stalking and Harassment Legislation

handle is hein.journals/eccc9 and id is 219 raw text is: Ursula Smartt' The Stalking Phenomenon: Trends in European and International Stalking and Harassment Legislation 1. INTRODUCTION: THE NATURE AND EXTENT OF THE PROBLEM The popstar Madonna experienced it and so did the tennis player Martina Hingis. The most recent serious case of stalking in Britain led to the brutally calculated murder of a popular TV presenter, 38 year-old Jill Dando in April 1999.' The film director Steven Spielberg eventually took his obsessive stalker to the criminal courts.3 The Beatle John Lennon was an early victim of what would be described as criminal stalking action today, haunted and brutally killed by the 'fan' Mark Chapman. Ex-Beatle George Harrison has also recently been a stalking victim; the intruder, who described himself in court as a 'Beatles-Fan', was stopped by Harrison's wife in early 2000 in their home. She hit the stalker over the head with a table-lamp in self-defence. Over the past decade, 'stalking' has emerged as a new socio-legal problem. One definition of the stalking phenomenon is repeated harassing behaviour which is threatening and purposefully directed at a specific person (the victim), and would cause a reasonable person to fear bodily injury or death for themselves or members of the family. Criminal offences related to stalking range from assault (be it physical or mental) to non-fatal offences against the person to grievous bodily harm with intent, rape, indecent assault or even murder in the various legislations. This article will examine German harassment legislation and take a look at the development in other European countries. Furthermore, Anglo-American, Australian I. LL.B. MA MPhil, Visiting Professor at the Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Criminal Law, Freiburg, Germany, and Professor at Law and Criminology, School of Law, Thames Valley University, London, UK. 2. The murder trial of Barry George, 41, an ex-Territorial Army paratrooper, then unemployed, began on 4 May 2001 at the Old Bailey, London. Mr. George was accused of first stalking then murdering Ms. Dando. Jill Dando had been shot through the head with a single bullet on the doorstep of her home in Fulham, West London on 26 April 1999. On 2 July 2001, Barry George was found guilty of Ms Dando's murder by a jury verdict of 10 1. He was sentenced to life imprisonment and subse- quently appealed against his sentence. 3. Cf. C. Errico, 'Steven Spielberg's Stalker Sent Away', E! Online News (1998) June 27. European Journal of Crime, Criminal Law and Criminal Justice, Vol. 9/3, 209-232, 2001. @ Kluwer Law International. Printed in the Netherlands. 209

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most