Stalking victim awarded compensation from CPS
02 Feb 2012
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has been ordered to pay
compensation to a victim of stalking for failing in its duty of
care.
Former freelance Sky Sports News producer Elliot Fogel was jailed
for two years on January 27th following a campaign of harassment
towards Claire Waxman which saw him Google her name 40,000 times in
one year.
Ms Waxman was granted a lifetime restraining order against him in
2006, but Mr Fogel repeatedly breached it, including launching
civil proceedings against her.
He claimed she had conducted an internet hate campaign against him
and breached the order during evidence gathering.
But the CPS dropped its case after claiming that preventing him
from launching civil actions would represent a breach to his
civil
liberties.
Lord Justice Moore-Bick has now ruled that the decision by the CPS
represented a failure in its duty of protection and ordered
compensation of GBP3,500 for Ms Waxman.
"In the light of the history of the matter and the serious effects
of Mr Fogel's behaviour towards Ms Waxman, the state owed her a
duty to take proper measures to protect her and was in breach of
its duty in failing to pursue the prosecution," he explained.
The judge said that the damages were awarded for the alarm and
distress caused by the CPS' failures.
Mr Fogel was imprisoned for an unrelated breach after sending Ms
Waxman a card to mark the sixth anniversary of the restraining
order.
The court heard that he developed his fixation with Ms Waxman after
studying for his A-Levels with her at a college in St Albans,
Hertfordshire.
