Alice Ruggles: Some of the key stalking recommendations following her death

A set of recommendations around stalking and domestic abuse have been published following the death of Alice Ruggles in October 2016.

Ms Ruggles was murdered by her ex-boyfriend, Lance Corporal Trimaan Dhillon, in her Gateshead flat after he became jealous when she ended their relationship.

The family of Ms Ruggles were critical of both the police and the army for their handling of the case, saying they could have done more to protect her.

Now the Gateshead Community Safety Board has published a series of 20 recommendations to be implemented at both a regional and national level.

They range from establishing a recognised definition of stalking, to the Ministry of Defence reviewing its own Domestic Abuse Policy.

Some of the 20 key recommendations:

1) Home Office to consider introducing a national stalking definition to ensure a consistent understanding

The Chair of the Gateshead Community Safety Board will write to the Home Office requesting the introduction of a national stalking definition. It's hoped this will improve awareness, understanding and allow for stalking perpetrators to be held to account.

2) MOD and Home Office to agree a national policy to formalise future interactions between the Home Office and Military Police over domestic abuse claims

Another key recommendation is to improve information sharing between the bodies and make communication over domestic abuse incidents more formal.

4) Home Office to consider making threats to post intimate images without consent a criminal offence

During his stalking campaign Dhillon had threatened to post intimate pictures of Ms Ruggles in an attempt to coerce and control her. This recommendation, if followed through on, would make threats to post photos a criminal offence.

9) Home Office to work with telecommunications providers and national stalking abuse experts to review measures and advice to reduce harm from digitally-assisted stalking

Another proposal to limit the extent of stalking in the digital sphere. During his trial Dhillon had admitted to telling numerous lies, creating a false email account for Alice in order to change her social media passwords, attempted to hack into the Facebook account of a male friend of Alice and also kept explicit photographs of Alice.

17) Assurances to be sought from Northumbria Police that, whilst having a victim-focused approach, officers make decisions based on threat, risk and harm and progress all appropriate investigative opportunities

One of Ms Ruggles' family's criticisms was that it should not have been left to her to decide whether or not the police arrested Dhillon at the time of his stalking. The Gateshead Community Safety Board will seek assurances from Northumbria Police that their approach is based on the perceived threat presented to stalking victims.