July 7 survivor harassed by internet stalker

July 7 survivor harassed by internet stalker

By Ben Leapman, Home Affairs Correspondent, Sunday Telegraph
Last Updated: 12:34am BST 27/05/2007

A survivor of the July 7 London bombings has been subjected to a year-long campaign of abuse and harassment by a "cyber-stalker" she has never met.

Rachel North, 36, feared for her safety after she was bombarded with threatening emails. They began arriving after she created an online diary to recount her experience in the Piccadilly Line blast, in which 26 passengers were killed.

The messages were sent by Felicity Jane Lowde, 41, a researcher, from Oxford. Lowde was convicted of harassment after failing to turn up for her trial at Stratford magistrates' court, east London, on April 2.

She is now on the run but has continued to send abusive messages.

A spokesman for Thames Valley police said that a warrant for Lowde's arrest had been circulated to all forces. Sgt Colin Brooker, of Oxford police, said: "It went to court and she was found guilty in her absence."

Miss North, who married last month, said the abuse had worsened her post-traumatic stress disorder and left her fearing for her safety.

Describing her ordeal in her blog, Miss North wrote: "I was concerned and deeply distressed by her behaviour, and completely unable to understand why she was targeting me, a stranger whom she had never met.

"I tried from time to time to reason with her, and then I warned her, clearly and politely, when she still did not stop, that what she was doing was harassment, and that if I did go to the police she could be prosecuted."

Among more than 100 emails and comments, Lowde described the campaign by July 7 survivors for a public inquiry as "a self-serving publicity stunt", and accused Miss North of "making a living on the backs of the dead".

Miss North said: "For someone suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and survivor guilt, this was the most hurtful thing that anyone could possibly have said. And I will admit now that it nearly made me go under."

In a series of messages sent last week, apparently from a cyber cafe, Lowde wrote: "You are a warmongering bitch. No one believes you. People hate you for what you've done. Stop trying to promote yourself and GO AWAY RACHEL.

"In your wedding picture you look happy to have got away with it. But time is ticking and you'll wind up in jail with the stupid grin wiped off your evil face."

During the police inquiry, Lowde alleged that it was she who was stalked by Miss North.