BBC’s Emily Maitlis wins apology from the Ministry of Justice after stalker wrote to her from prison

The BBC’s Emily Maitlis has won an apology from the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) after her stalker was able to write to her from prison.

The former Newsnight presenter received a letter from Edward Vines, who has harassed her for two decades, while he was in prison.

Vines, 47, who was at Cambridge University with Maitlis, wrote to her while in HMP Bullingdon and again while living in a bail hostel.

He was first convicted of harassing Ms Maitlis in 2002 and had subjected her to "psychological torture" by continuing to contact her, Judge Peter Ross said. The Ministry of Justice apologised for "the distress caused to the victim".

Judge Ross said the situation was "wholly unsatisfactory" and has given the Probation Service and the Bicester prison's governor 10 days to provide an explanation.

An MoJ spokesperson said they “apologise unreservedly” for the error and for the “ distress” it caused.

"We have significantly strengthened our monitoring procedures to prevent incidents like this from happening again,” the spokesperson said.

"We would like to reassure the victim that any future correspondence involving this offender will be carefully checked, with staff reminded of the sensitivities of this particular case."

In a statement read to Oxford Crown Court, Ms Maitlis said she had felt "scared and let down" after she heard Vines had breached the restraining order "even from within the prison system".

She said it had affected her relationship with her husband, and scared her children, "who thought the threats had gone away... while he was behind bars".

Vines was issued with an indefinite restraining order in 2009, which he was convicted of twice breaching last year. He was jailed on Tuesday for a further 45 months for breaching a restraining order.