Type:	Non-Fiction
Title:	Stalked : every woman's nightmare
Authors:	Smith, Chris
Keywords:	Personal stories;Stalking
Year:	2007
Publisher:	New Holland
Notes:	General Overview: The book is written in journalistic style and describes the relentless stalking of a Sydney women by her ex-boyfriend in 1995. Discussion: This book describes in dramatic detail the story of Libby Masters. She met Phillip Hopkins at a bar, they had a short tumultuous relationship, she ended the relationship and then was assaulted by him. He was found guilty of assault but received only a twelve month bond. He began to stalk her at her work, her home and whenever she went out. An Apprehended Violence Order was made to protect her but breaches of the order went unpunished, largely due to the difficulty of proving that the breaches had occurred. Some police officers were unsympathetic, accusing her of wasting their time. When the stalking continued, she hired a private investigator who became a witness to a breach of the AVO. However, the prosecution failed because Hopkins produced phone records showing that she had repeatedly contacted him, when this was not the case. She later discovered that a contraption attached to her phone line under her house was enabling calls to be made from her phone line. A sympathetic police officer revealed that Hoffman had stalked another woman, Simone. Simone contacted Libby and described being stalked by Hopkins for eight years. Eventually Masters was contacted by the author, a producer at A Current Affair:. They used hidden cameras and filmed Hopkins hiding in Masters’ backyard and trying to get in a window. When the story was aired, four other women reported that they had been stalked by Hopkins. Hopkins was charged with stalking, breaches of the AVO and unlawful entry. He pleaded guilty and a psychiatric assessment recommended that he should be released, arguing that he posed no risk to Masters. Hopkins was sentenced to six months imprisonment, which was reduced to three months on appeal to the District Court.
URI:	https://anrows.intersearch.com.au/anrowsjspui/handle/1/11523
ISBN:	9781741105278
Physical description:	192 p. ; 24 cm.
Appears in Collections:	Books

Items in ANROWS library are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.