Stalking victims to be issued with new guidance

Stalking victims are to get guidance from prosecutors and police to help them "prepare mentally" for giving evidence in court, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has said.

Alison Saunders said more needed to be done to help victims despite hundreds more cases being brought to court due to new legislation.

Writing in The Independent she said: "A victim of sexual assault recently told me she could have been spared a year's worth of worry about giving evidence if someone had just told her more about what to expect in court.

"It may comes as a surprise to some that this is not how we operate already, but our long-standing practice has been to leave victims to work it out for themselves. That seems to me to be not only cold and dispassionate, but unfair.

"We have come a long way since the days of prosecutors refusing to even speak with victims for fear of allegations of trying to influence their evidence, and a fair trial for a defendant can be guaranteed without this overly conservative approach."