Michael Coy
A 67-year-old man who was stalking his “ex” has been convicted in Malaga – but not for harassing the woman. Instead, he was found guilty of assaulting police officers.
The man subjected his former partner to such a relentless course of bullying and unwanted attention that she was forced to change her daily routine. The problem was that she refused to make a ‘denuncia’ or give evidence against her ex-husband. Under Spanish criminal law, the police are powerless to investigate any allegation until the victim makes a formal accusation.
This is an important point to understand: if, for example, someone steals your car, the insurance company will not even consider paying out before you have ‘denounced’ the theft to the police. In this case, two officers attended the ex-wife’s home in response to her telephone plea for help. However, she told the police that she did not want to make a ‘denuncia’ statement.
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Spain’s General Council of the Judiciary, a kind of trade union for judges, claims that seven out of ten women who suffer abuse don’t follow through with pressing charges. In many cases, this only aggravates the abuse, as the offender feels emboldened.
The incident came to light on February 28, when the 091 call centre received a phone call at around 9:00 p.m. from a woman reporting that her ex-partner was harassing her and was outside her home, waiting for her to come out. Officers from the Citizen Security Brigade were dispatched to the location in Málaga and observed the suspect crouching near the building.
The officers interviewed the man, who appeared to be intoxicated, and had to restrain and arrest him after he attempted to attack them. Sources close to the case indicated that the 67-year-old suspect “could not fully accept” the breakup of his relationship and had allegedly been harassing his ex-partner. He followed her to places she frequented and went to her home, forcing the woman to alter her routine to avoid him.
Despite the frequency of these incidents, there were no previous complaints, and the victim did not wish to file one after this latest event. The man’s downfall came when he turned violent towards the police. The two officers involved were now victims and could file a denuncia against him.
The arrested man was brought before the court the following day, accused of resisting an officer and assaulting a police officer. Judicial sources clarified that the case involved an accusation of aggressive behaviour towards national police officers. Allegations of sexual harassment were referred to Málaga Court for Violence Against Women No. 1, which ultimately had to dismiss the case due to the ex-partner’s refusal to testify.
The defendant, along with a family member who witnessed the events, both refused to give evidence. The violence aspect of the case was handled by Málaga Court of First Instance No.7, where a duty judge was sitting and was able to execute the sentence immediately.
The defendant has now been sentenced to a four-month fine of €10 per day for resisting or disobeying police officers. If he reoffends during this period, he could face a custodial sentence.
Rachel Horman Brown, a UK solicitor specialising in representing female victims of stalking, says that this type of bullying needs to be taken much more seriously by society. “According to the Femicide Census,” she points out, “a woman is killed by a man every three days in the UK, the majority by a current or ex-partner. A study from the University of Gloucester found that stalking behaviour was present in 94 per cent of cases where women were murdered by men. If stalking was dealt with more robustly, these homicides could potentially be prevented.”
At Paladin, the national stalking advocacy service, they call this “murder in slow motion”: the escalating risk is plain to see, but tragically it is routinely ignored by the police. The Gloucester study also found that in 64 per cent of these homicides, the victim had been in contact with the police prior to the murder.
In Spain, at least, the way forward is clear: women who are being stalked must denounce their tormentors.
