Summary Stalking

D is potentially guilty of the offence of stalking under the Protection from Harassment Act
1997.


‘Stalking’ = deliberately left undefined so Ds can’t find any loopholes


S2A(1) – lays out the requirements of the offence
S2A(1)(a) – course of conduct in breach of S1(1):

S1(1)(a) - the person pursues a course of conduct in breach of section 1(1), and

S1(1)(b) - the course of conduct amounts to stalking.




S7(2) – Harassment – harassing a person includes alarming the person or causing the person
distress
S7(3) – Course of conduct amounts to harassment
 Harassment of one person on at least two occasions


S2A(1)(b) – course of conduct amounts to stalking


S2A(2) – D’s course of conduct amounts to stalking if:

(a) it amounts to harassment of that person,

(b) the acts or omissions involved are ones associated with stalking, and

(c) the person whose course of conduct it is knows or ought to know that the course
of conduct amounts to harassment of the other person (MR)
 Subjective test - know or ought to have known (MR)
 Objective test – reasonable man test (MR)




S2A(3) – provides examples of acts and omissions which are associated with stalking
S2A(3)(a) – following a person
S2A(3)(b) – contacting, or attempting to contact