Lily Allen has opened up about a seven-year stalking ordeal which she says left her feeling frightened and isolated.
Earlier this month, Alex Gray was convicted of harassment and breaking into the singer’s home when she was there with her children and a friend.
The stalking began seven years ago when Gray started the Twitter account @lilyallenRIP, claiming to have written Lily's song The Fear. This was followed up with abusive letters which he delivered to her record company.
"He would drop off these letters at my record company, my management offices, my sister’s shop, my flat. It was freaking me out a bit and I’m not easily scared, so the fact I went to the police with the letters shows how serious I felt it was," Allen told The Guardian. "Alarm bells were ringing. But I felt comforted by the fact that I was telling the police, I was keeping a record."
However, Allen says that the way the police handled the situation left her feeling like a nuisance rather than a victim.
"I felt very alone. I have some trust issues now, not least with the police. Who can you trust if you cannot trust institutions like the police?" she added
As the stalking progressed, Gray started spending nights in her back garden. One night, Allen opened her back door to let smoke out after burning a pan and forgot to lock it before going to bed. She was later woken up by banging on the wall, "I sat up and looked and the door handle was twisting round.
"This guy came steaming in and I didn’t know who he was. I recoiled and he ripped the duvet off, calling me a ‘f****** b****’ and yelling about where his dad is."
Thankfully, Allen and her family were not harmed, and police said the man was likely to be someone who stumbled into the wrong flat. But the singer wasn't so sure, and says the police didn't change their attitude until the next day when she realised her hand bag had been stolen, "it was like a sigh of relief: ‘now it’s burglary – we understand that’."
While she waits for her stalker to be sentenced, she is also looking for answers from the police, "I’m a famous person and had the inclination to push things. If they treat me like this, how the hell are they going to treat someone else without those resources, without clout?"
The police have stressed that the stalking was taken extremely seriously.
The singer has since launched a campaign with the Women's Equality Party in support of victims:
With @WEP_UK ,I am launching a campaign in support of victims https://t.co/IAVBPxBHFU #jointhedots #joinWE
— lily (@lilyallen) April 16, 2016
