Lily Allen felt "victim shamed" over her stalking ordeal.

Lily Allen

Lily Allen

The 30-year-old singer was terrorised for seven years by a man who stalked her online and at concerts and even broke into her house one night when she and her two young daughters were asleep but Lily says a police officer suggested that her "high profile" may have discouraged others from speaking out.

Speaking on BBC's 'Newsnight', she said: "I think it's victim-shaming and victim-blaming."

Revealing more details of her ordeal, she said: "I'm lying in bed and I can see the door handle moving and then he steams in, starts screaming and shouting... I could see he was really agitated and upset.

"I recoiled back into my bed and he ripped the duvet off and jumped out of bed and ran around to the other side of the room and he kept shouting at me, but he was very focused on me and it was loud and aggressive and he had something under his jumper."

And Lily was terrified to discover that Alex Gray, who stole her handbag when he broke in, had vowed to kill a celebrity.

She said: "It transpires that he had sent an email to his mother saying that he was in London, had come into some money - probably from my handbag that he stole - and that he was determined to murder a celebrity. The police didn't tell me that. And I was living in the same flat, on my own.

"I was DJing at an event and I came home at about 1 o'clock in the morning to find the handbag that had been stolen on the bonnet of my car... At which point I called the police, and I think it was the next day they installed CCTV on the outside of my house and then a day after that he was arrested."

Although Lily endured seven years of terror at the hands of Alex, 30, she insisted she does not blame him and feels that they have both been "let down".

She explained: "I'm not in the slightest bit angry with Alex Gray. I could see from the minute he came into my bedroom that he was ill and that he needed help.

"I wanted to help - I felt immediately like there's something really wrong with this guy and I feel like he's been let down. I've been let down. And how many other people are being let down?"

However, the Metropolitan Police says it takes stalking "extremely seriously".

The Met said: "The victim should be at the heart of any investigation into such allegations and kept informed of developments as this work progresses. If this is not the case then we are keen to speak to victims and learn any lessons we can to improve our investigations."

Mr Gray was convicted at Harrow Crown Court of burglary and harassment earlier this month and will be sentenced in May.


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