Vicky Cluskey suffered a two-year harassment campaign at the hands of her stalker. She tells Ruth Addicott about her terrifying ordeal and why more needs to be done to protect the 2.1 million women who have to cope with stalkers in Britain every year.

Stalking is often dismissed as something only Hollywood stars and celebs have to worry about. While they have the luxury of mirror-windowed limousines, bodyguards and 24-hour protection, however, thousands of other people live in fear day to day.

One in ten women in Britain has been stalked in the past year and one in five will be stalked at some point in their life. It can happen to anyone, yet despite several high profile cases, including some which have ended in tragedy, many women are not getting the support they need from the Government or the police.

Vicky Cluskey, 36, from Eastbourne, knows only too well the effect a stalker can have on your life.

As a professional Kylie Minogue impersonator, she is used to getting attention from strangers - it comes with the job. But when a local man - a lovestruck pensioner - began a two-year campaign of harassment and started turning up at her home, she knew she had to get help.

Vicky was working behind the bar in a Wetherspoon's pub in Eastbourne when she first became aware of Philip Russill. The 68-year-old former salesman was a regular and she would chat to him like any of the others.

"At first he would come in a couple of times a week, then he started coming in more frequently," she says. "He'd try to chat but I was always busy so he started passing me little notes saying things like 'Thanks for being so nice'. I got a bunch of flowers and then more notes asking if he could take me out.

"I lied and said I had a boyfriend and wasn't interested but he wouldn't give up. He bought me chocolates, then at Christmas, a great big card with earrings inside. I was really embarrassed."

Russill continued to bombard Vicky with love letters, cinema and concert tickets. She found notes on her car windscreen from him offering to find her work, to be her bodyguard and do her gardening.

"He even turned up at my house with a strimmer," she says.

"Luckily, I was away and had a friend staying at the time. He told my friend I'd organised for him to come around and she sent me a text saying, 'Your friend Phil's here to do the gardening'. I couldn't believe it."

Russill's infatuation became so intense, Vicky eventually got him barred from the pub. But even that didn't stop him.

He phoned the pub and pretended to be someone else so I'd answer," she recalls. "As soon as he said, 'Hi. It's Phil' my hands went clammy. I got really stressed. He said, 'We need to meet and discuss things'. I said, 'We've got nothing to discuss. I'm not interested'. Then he'd say, 'Oh, I'm sorry'. He was as if he had a split personality." Vicky remembers one letter which said, 'I know you don't want to be seen with me in public so why don't we meet in disguise?'.

Russill used all sorts of means to get her attention, including writing to a pub where she was performing, asking if he could collect money for a cancer charity. Fortunately, he took the trouble to write and tell Vicky first so she was able to get him barred in time.

"I didn't want anything to do with him - I hated him. I never responded to any of his letters. All I ever did was be nice," she says.

At one point, Vicky felt so threatened she approached a policeman in the street. She told him about Russill's behaviour but says the only advice she was given was to try and put a stop to it herself.

"It felt as if they were dismissing it, which upset me at the time because I was really stressed," she says.

Shortly afterwards, Russill kept his distance and it wasn't until a year later - last July - he started stalking her once again.

"I'd get home and hardly have chance to walk to the kitchen before he'd be knocking at the front door. I seriously felt he was watching me all the time," she says. "As soon as I saw it was him, I'd start shaking. I was so scared, I hid behind the sofa.

"He'd stand there for a few minutes, waiting, then when I'd refuse to open the door, he'd push a note through the letter box begging me to meet him."

The anxiety of not knowing where he was or whether she was being watched started to get to Vicky. She was terrified to sleep in the house alone and either slept at her parents or had friends stay over.

"I couldn't sleep, I couldn't eat and I couldn't concentrate on anything," she says. "I was a complete wreck. I turned into a zombie. I kept thinking, 'Is he outside?' the whole time. I'd get home and sit in my car for ages, afraid to get out. I was scared how far he might go, I just wanted it to stop." Things got so bad, her friend eventually persuaded her to go back to the police.

Vicky, who had been under the impression there was nothing they could do, was surprised by the response. The policewoman she saw was sympathetic and said it should have been stopped a long time ago.

Shortly after that Russill was arrested and a search of his bedroom uncovered a "shrine" to Australian pop star Kylie Minogue. Police also discovered he had scrawled love hearts across posters of Kylie and written his and Vicky's initials inside them.

The case was eventually heard at Eastbourne Magistrates' Court. Russill told the court: "I had no intention of frightening her. When I heard she was frightened, I was mortified." He said: "It sounds a lot worse than it was. This has been a very painful lesson for me. I have nothing but respect for Miss Cluskey."

Russill pleaded guilty to harassment between January 2004 and August last year and escaped a jail sentence. He was given a two-year restraining order banning him from contacting Vicky and a six-month community order.

Despite his actions, the court did not think it necessary to request a psychiatric report.

Although Vicky was satisfied with the police response in the end, she wishes they could have intervened sooner and is now considering launching a campaign to increase awareness of stalking both in the community and in the police force.

"A lot of people laughed and said things like, 'Oh, come on, he's just a little old man' - but that's not the point," she says. "I felt my life was being invaded. You read about these stories all the time but it's only when it happens to you, you know how frightening it is."

"Stalking" is not an offence in itself. It comes under a wider heading of harassment and is often labelled a "domestic violence issue". There have been growing calls for clearer definition and it is a subject of growing concern - especially after the high- profile murder in London of 22-year-old Harvey Nicols assistant Clare Bernal.

Theresa May MP voiced her concerns at a stalking summit in February, highlighting the danger and calling for more appropriate policies to be put in place to deal with stalkers.

Referring to the tragic case of her own constituent Rana Faruqui, who was killed by her stalker in 2003, May said the system had "failed her and many others" and warned there would be further tragedies unless serious action is taken.

"The closer I looked, the more I realised how Government and policing policy is failing the 1.2 million women who suffer from stalking each year," she told BBC's Panorama.

There are also calls for a special stalking unit to be set up in Britain as in the US, where it is treated much more seriously and police and prosecutors are given specialist training.

Detective Seargent Lee Horner from the Anti Victimisation Unit of Sussex Police is sceptical about such training. He admits there is some difficulty in proving the attention is "unwanted" but claims, it's just as difficult as any other criminal offence. He insists the law is adequate and urges women to come forward if they feel in any way intimidated.

Since it was set up 12 years ago, the Network for Surviving Stalking (NSS) has campaigned tirelessly for tighter legislation and more protection for victims.

Alan Stevens, from the NSS says: "The police still don't take stalking seriously, it is too often treated like a minor crime. I think they find it difficult to deal with because it involves a relationship issue and they push it away, but there is no excuse. The response we get from victims is they're told, 'Come back if you've been assaulted'." Alan points out the psychological impact is also very damaging to victims.

"We've had women come to us who've been stalked for years," he says. "We are also seeing a lot of stalking by text and email. We've heard of people receiving 100 text messages a day and emails saying, 'I know where you are'. The frightening thing is anyone can be a victim and we will keep campaigning and lobbying the Government until something is done." Alan was surprised a psychiatric report wasn't ordered on Russill.

"Perpetrators often have mental health problems or personality disorders and it is vital those issues are addressed," he says.

Asked if she feels safe now, knowing she could potentially bump into Russill at any moment, Vicky pauses and says: "I think so. I've tried to just put it behind me. I used to park my car around the corner but I don't like walking too far now. I just hope he's learnt his lesson. I was lucky nothing happened but there might be women out there who aren't so lucky."

  • One in ten women in Britain has been stalked in the past year
  • One in five will be stalked at some point in their life
  • 1.2 million women in Britain are stalked every year

The Network for Surviving Stalking (NSS): www.nss.org.uk
Victim Support: www.victimsupport.org
Brighton Women's Centre: Call 01273 698036
AntiStalking.com: www.antistalking.com

Have you ever been stalked? Is enough being done to support victims? Leave your views below.