CPS gave woman's phone number to her alleged stalker
- Published
A woman from west London is suing the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) after a series of blunders, including her phone number being given to a man who was accused of stalking her.
The woman, known only as Diya, is going to the High Court to seek a judicial review of the CPS's actions.
She hopes to stop it happening to others and also wants compensation.
The CPS has apologised for the error and for also mistakenly dropping the case against the man last year.
Her MP, Labour's Stephen Pound, is also referring her case to the Parliamentary Ombudsman.
Diya has received two apologies from the CPS.
The first came last summer when it admitted it acted unlawfully in failing to make the man stand trial.
Diya said: "I was absolutely horrified as you could imagine that after all these serious failings to make a criminal walk, that they actually made the error disclosing my new contact details to him.
"When do these errors come to an end?"
The harassment began last year after Diya ended a short relationship.
She said the man refused to leave her alone and followed her and her five-year-old son as she took him to school.
The man was charged with assault and harassment but when the case came to Ealing Magistrates Court last July, the prosecution presented no evidence because it claimed Diya could not be found.
She said she was not called into the courtroom even though she was in the court building.
The CPS later apologised and launched an inquiry into its handling of the case.
In March this year, a court imposed a restraining order which banned the man from the boroughs of Ealing and Hillingdon.
But in a letter to Diya last month, the CPS admitted it had disclosed her personal details to him.
'Sincere regrets'
It said it had passed on documents to the man's legal team which the Metropolitan Police had failed to edit properly.
The CPS said the man had told police officers he had since burned all the relevant documents containing her mobile phone number.
Alison Saunders, chief crown prosecutor CPS London, said: "I would like to repeat again our sincere regrets that the complainant clearly did not receive the service to which she was entitled and which we are determined to provide.
"The CPS has accepted full responsibility for these failures and has apologised unreservedly to the complainant."
A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said: "We apologise for any distress caused to the victim and are making every effort to meet with her to resolve any outstanding issues."
Diya said the apologies were not good enough and wants reassurances that other women will not be failed in the future.
She also wants her alleged stalker to be charged again with the original offences of assault and harassment.
- Published8 October 2010