Netflix stalker's victim 'wasn't taken seriously by police'

Hardy, who was the subject of Netflix's Can I Tell You A Secret and dubbed Britain's worst cyberstalker, was jailed for nine years this year after Cheshire Police launched an investigation. 

But Kristen Dugdale, 31, who was one of his victims, reported her concerns over Hardy's behaviour to Wiltshire Police in 2019, years before he was charged in 2022, but does not believe she was taken seriously. 

The former model was left fearing for her life because of the two-year ordeal which saw Hardy use her own pictures to sell adult content, spread lies about her to her friends and family, and accuse of her sleeping with her father in-law. 

She was one of 63 people believed to have fallen victim to Hardy over an 11-year period.

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"I don’t think I made an official complaint," she said. "But I wasn't happy with how my report was handled. I felt like I had to keep digging to get the information that was needed to secure eventually getting a conviction.

"But even then, they kept saying there wasn’t much they could do, just keep reporting it.

"I would bring them more and more evidence and they just kept telling me 'you don’t know that it is him.'"

She added that she didn't think they took her claims seriously at first even though she was worried, but did seem to respond better after she shared an article from 2012 about him doing something similar.

She has now called for concerns over stalking to be taken more seriously. 

A Wiltshire Police spokesperson said: "We can confirm that we responded to a report of an offence relating to this matter in September 2019. We shared information with other relevant police forces and as a result, the individual was charged and convicted with stalking offences.

"We ensured the victim was updated with the outcome of our enquiries, however if she felt she would like to raise a complaint with us we would encourage her to do so.

"Stalking is a serious crime which can have a devastating effect on the lives of victims and their friends and family. We are committed to doing everything possible to bring offenders to justice and protect victims.

"We encourage anyone who thinks they are being stalked to report it to police straight away."