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To: Police Scotland Subject: Request for Investigation — Alleged Coordinated Stalking, Harassment, Smear Campaign, Third-Party Approaches, Coercive Conduct and Potential Hate-Crime Aggravation Dear Sir/Madam, This letter is submitted as a structured incident report and request for investigation concerning an alleged prolonged and coordinated pattern of conduct directed towards a woman. The purpose of this report is to explain not only the individual incidents, but the alleged process by which circumstances were created, information was selectively circulated to third parties, and the resulting circumstances were then used to support the original allegations about the woman. The reporting person asks that Police Scotland investigate the allegations objectively and independently, identify the individuals involved, establish the role of each person, preserve relevant evidence and assess all potentially applicable offences. Police Scotland recognises stalking as a pattern of two or more behaviours which cause, intend to cause, or are reckless as to causing fear or alarm, and advises that stalking can occur in person, online or through monitoring communications. (Scottish Police) 1. Summary of the alleged mechanism The reported conduct is alleged to have operated through the following sequence: 1. A narrative is created about the woman. ↓ 2. The narrative is circulated to other people, particularly men. ↓ 3. Important information about the group's own alleged conduct is omitted. ↓ 4. The woman is allegedly approached, monitored, pressured or harassed because of the narrative. ↓ 5. The woman rejects the approaches or attempts to protect herself. ↓ 6. Her reaction is then allegedly presented to others as evidence supporting the original narrative. ↓ 7. Further people are allegedly encouraged to participate. ↓ 8. The cycle continues and escalates. The central issue requiring investigation is therefore whether the group has merely been describing circumstances, or whether it has allegedly been creating or manipulating circumstances and then presenting the consequences as proof of its own allegations.
2. Background The woman is a 34-year-old Arab refugee who has lived in the UK for approximately ten years. She has: • a Master's degree; • counselling qualifications; • personal-training qualifications, including pre- and post-natal and chronic-disease training; • previous academic/lecturing experience; • and previously relocated to the UK on a scholarship. She applied for asylum in the UK in 2018. She is described as having a Muslim/Jewish religious identity and as politically right- wing/conservative. She is also described as living without nearby family or a substantial personal support network. These circumstances are relevant because the reporting person alleges that the group identified her financial independence, employment, relationship status and lack of family support as vulnerabilities. 3. Alleged commencement of the campaign — 2024 The reported campaign allegedly began in approximately 2024. The group is described as consisting of individuals predominantly in their 60s who allegedly presented themselves as psychologists or professionals, with some allegedly having no licence to practise. The reporting person alleges that the group developed a negative narrative concerning the woman's financial and relationship circumstances. The alleged narrative portrayed the woman as someone who was seeking financial support from men. The reporting person states that this was false and misleading. 4. Alleged omission of the group's own conduct A central part of the complaint is the alleged omission of causation. According to the report, when the group told other people that the woman was financially vulnerable or allegedly seeking financial support from men, they allegedly did not disclose: • their alleged interference with her employment; • alleged attempts to restrict her ability to work; • alleged threats concerning employment;
• alleged interference with potential sources of financial assistance; • alleged harassment; • alleged monitoring; • alleged approaches by third parties; • and the woman's repeated rejection of unwanted approaches. The police are therefore asked to investigate what the group told people and, equally importantly, what they allegedly knew but failed to disclose. 5. Alleged creation of a self-reinforcing narrative The reported mechanism is alleged to have become circular. The alleged process was: The group says: “She needs a man financially.” Then allegedly: The group interferes with or contributes to circumstances affecting her independence. Then: Men are allegedly told that she needs financial support. Then: Men allegedly approach her. Then: She rejects them. Then: Her rejection or distress is allegedly described to others without the preceding circumstances. The resulting story can then allegedly become: “See, this is how she behaves.” The reporting person asks the police to investigate whether this was an intentional self-reinforcing process.
6. Alleged use of third parties The reporting person alleges that men were approached or informed about the woman based on stories circulated by the group. The investigation should therefore establish, for each man: 1. how he came to know about the woman; 2. who first told him about her; 3. exactly what he was told; 4. whether he was given information about her financial circumstances; 5. whether he was told that she would accept financial support; 6. whether he was encouraged to approach her; 7. whether he was told about her previous refusals; 8. what happened when she rejected him; 9. whether he subsequently communicated with anyone from the group; 10. whether another approach followed. This is important because the men may have been independent actors, victims of misinformation, participants, or potential witnesses. Their individual roles should therefore be investigated rather than assumed. 7. Alleged concealment of the woman's rejection The reporting person states that the woman repeatedly established boundaries and rejected unwanted approaches. She also reported harassment to police. The alleged group nevertheless continued promoting the narrative that she was seeking financial support from men. The police are asked to investigate whether the group: • knew that she had rejected the approaches; • knew that she had asked people to stop; • knew that she had reported incidents; • nevertheless continued communicating the narrative; • and potentially encouraged further approaches.
8. Alleged escalation The reported conduct allegedly progressed from rumours and smears into: • stalking; • repeated close-proximity male approaches; • intimidation; • unwanted contact; • noise-related harassment; • alleged interference with access to food; • financial pressure; • interference with employment; • alleged monitoring of communications and movements; • and alleged attempts to influence personal and relationship decisions. The reporting person states that stalking has allegedly continued for approximately two years and close-proximity male harassment for approximately 14 months. Police Scotland advises victims of stalking/harassment to record what happens and when, and preserve messages, emails, screenshots, letters and other evidence. (Scottish Police)
9. Proposed investigative timeline Period Reported development Investigation required 2017–2018 Woman relocates to UK and subsequently applies for asylum. Establish background and circumstances without treating immigration/refugee status as evidence of wrongdoing. Before 2024 Woman reportedly educated, qualified and seeking/undertaking professional work. Establish employment and financial position before alleged campaign. 2024 Alleged group campaign begins. Identify individuals, relationships and earliest known communications. 2024 onwards Alleged rumours concerning woman, money and relationships begin circulating. Identify origin of allegations and first recipients. Following circulation Alleged men begin approaching woman. Establish who referred them and what they were told. After refusals Woman rejects approaches and establishes boundaries. Record dates, communications and witnesses. Following refusals Alleged approaches and harassment continue. Investigate whether continuation was coordinated or encouraged. During same period Alleged interference with work and financial independence. Investigate employers, communications, threats and alleged interference. Subsequent period Alleged stalking/monitoring continues. Build a chronological stalking course of conduct. Later period Alleged escalation involving proximity harassment, noise and food-related difficulties. Identify perpetrators, witnesses, CCTV and other evidence. Throughout Alleged racial/religious and gender- related narratives continue. Assess whether prejudice forms part of any underlying criminal conduct. Throughout Woman reports incidents and sends cease-and-desist correspondence. Establish who received the correspondence and whether conduct continued afterwards. Present Alleged conduct remains part of a continuing pattern. Conduct coordinated investigation and risk assessment.
10. Questions concerning coordination The reporting person specifically requests investigation into whether the individuals were: • communicating with one another; • sharing information about the woman; • sharing information about the men; • directing third parties towards her; • encouraging further approaches; • coordinating stories; • monitoring her responses; • using one person's actions to create circumstances for another person; • or deliberately creating circumstances that could later be used to support the narrative about her. The investigation should identify each individual's actual role rather than treating the group as one person. 11. Potential criminal conduct The reporting person asks that police assess the evidence against all relevant offences, including potential: • stalking; • threatening or abusive behaviour; • harassment; • participation or encouragement in offending; • aiding, abetting, counselling, procuring or inciting where legally applicable; • conspiracy or other joint criminal liability where the relevant legal test is met; • attempt where applicable; • and hate-crime aggravation where an underlying offence is established. The statutory starting points for stalking and threatening/abusive behaviour include sections 38 and 39 of the Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2010. (Scottish Police)
12. Racial and religious element The reporting person asks that the matter be recorded and assessed as a potential hate-crime matter, rather than treating the racial and religious elements as irrelevant background. The woman is Arab and has a Muslim/Jewish religious identity. Police Scotland states that victims should report incidents where they believe they were targeted because of race or religion, and specifically recognises that a person can be targeted because of more than one characteristic or a perceived characteristic. (Scottish Police) The investigation should therefore determine whether: race/ethnicity → prejudice → underlying offending and/or religion → prejudice → underlying offending are supported by evidence. The reporting person is not asking the police to assume that a hate crime has occurred. The request is that the possibility is properly investigated. 13. Evidence that should be considered The reporting person asks that investigators consider, where lawfully available: • text messages; • emails; • social-media communications; • letters; • cease-and-desist correspondence; • police reports and previous incident numbers; • witness statements; • CCTV; • telephone evidence; • employment communications; • communications between suspected participants; • communications between group members and men who approached the woman; • dates and locations of alleged encounters; • and evidence concerning the woman's employment and financial circumstances before and after the alleged campaign. Particular attention should be paid to chronology.
The investigation should ask: What happened first? Who knew about it? Who communicated with whom? What happened next? Was the later event a consequence of the earlier communication? 14. The central investigative question The reporting person asks Police Scotland to investigate the following central question: Did the alleged group create, contribute to, manipulate or exploit circumstances surrounding the woman and then selectively present those circumstances to third parties as evidence supporting a narrative about her, while omitting the group's own alleged role in creating those circumstances? If evidence supports that proposition, the next question is: Did the resulting conduct amount to one or more criminal offences, and did any individual knowingly assist, encourage, facilitate or participate in those offences? 15. Independence of the investigation Because the allegation concerns a group allegedly influencing other people, the reporting person requests that the investigation remain independent from the individuals complained about. No assumption should be made that the men approached the woman independently. Equally, no assumption should be made that they were acting on behalf of the group. Their relationships, communications and conduct should be established through evidence. The woman should not be expected to prove the entire network herself. Where she identifies incidents, dates, individuals or evidence, those matters should be followed up through appropriate investigative procedures. 16. Police response requested The reporting person requests: 1. that the matter be formally recorded; 2. that the allegations of stalking and harassment be assessed as a continuing course of conduct; 3. that the alleged group coordination be investigated; 4. that the individual roles of the suspected participants be identified;
5. that the men who allegedly approached the woman be treated as potential witnesses as well as subjects of investigation, depending on the evidence; 6. that the source and dissemination of the rumours be investigated; 7. that alleged interference with employment and financial independence be investigated; 8. that the alleged racial and religious elements be recorded and assessed; 9. that relevant evidence be identified and preserved; 10. that previous police reports be cross-referenced; 11. that the chronology be examined as a whole rather than treating each incident in isolation; 12. that appropriate safeguarding and risk assessment be undertaken; and 13. that the reporting person be provided with the relevant crime/incident reference and information about the next stage of the investigation. Police Scotland states that reports of stalking, harassment and hate crime can be made online, by phone or in person, and that reports are subject to an appropriate risk assessment. (Scottish Police) Where a hate-crime report is investigated and there is sufficient evidence, Police Scotland states that the person responsible may be charged and the case reported to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS); where there is insufficient evidence for a crime, the matter can still be recorded as a hate incident. (Scottish Police) Conclusion The essential concern is that the alleged conduct is not simply a collection of rumours or unrelated approaches. The allegation is that there has been a continuing process in which: a narrative was created → the narrative was circulated → circumstances were allegedly manipulated → third parties were allegedly influenced → the woman reacted to the resulting pressure → her reaction was allegedly used to reinforce the original narrative → and the process continued. The reporting person therefore asks Police Scotland to investigate the entire chain of events, including the actions of the alleged group, the men who became involved, the communications between them, the circumstances preceding each incident, and the information that was allegedly omitted when the woman's circumstances were described to others. The requested investigation should distinguish clearly between allegation, evidence and established fact, while ensuring that the possibility of coordinated offending, stalking, harassment, participation in offending, and racial or religious aggravation is not overlooked. Yours faithfully,