Louise Minchin and her daughter speak out on their terrifying stalking experience

Louise Minchin and her daughter have opened up on how being stalked has left a lasting trauma.

As part of an ITV Tonight episode about stalking due to air this evening, Louise's daughter Mia recalled for the first time publicly the terrifying experience of her broadcaster mother being targeted and how it affected the rest of the family.

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Mia explains how she had been logged into Louise's Instagram account when a large number of explicit and offensive messages came through.

She says: "I was kind of terrified, all kind of shaking. I think my heart was beating really fast. I didn't sleep all night. The entirety of the next day I was in floods of tears."

Former BBC Breakfast host Louise adds: "It was very clear from the messages that this person knew exactly where we lived and had stood outside our front door. To say I was frightened, just doesn't really touch the surface.

"You are kind of on this high state of alert all the time. You don't know who they are. So, you don't know that that person standing next to you isn't them."

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Her stalker was sentenced to two years and eight months in prison in December 2021, as well as being handed an indefinite restraining order.

Mia also says that her day-to-day behaviour has changed following the stalking: "When I'm walking, I'm very conscious of who is behind me, especially not to have my headphones in if it's dark and there's no one else around."

ITV Tonight - Louise Minchin: The Truth About Stalking investigates more about what the thousands of victims of stalking in the UK are going through, as Louise asks if enough is being done to tackle the crime.

MP Jess Phillips, the Shadow Minister for Domestic Violence and Safeguarding, reads out the names of women killed by men in the past 12 months in Parliament evert year and is calling for a national stalkers register.

Appearing in the programme, she says: "I'm afraid to say you don't have to wait longer than a week for another case of a dead woman where a pattern of stalking was very, very clear. There's very little understanding still within the whole criminal justice system. Historically and today, it's still massively under-resourced and misunderstood."

ITV Tonight - Louise Minchin: The Truth About Stalking airs tonight at 8:30pm on ITV.

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