A YOUNG mother was so inspired by a real-life story of a woman who endured two years of torment at the hands of a stalker she designed a poster which will be displayed in every educational institution in Scotland warning students of the dangers.
Leonie Smith, 24, who has a four-year-old daughter, said she was shocked when she heard victim Ann Moulds tell how her stalker bombarded her with disgusting letters and disturbing photographs, made silent calls to her home in the early hours of the morning and threatened her with violence and rape.
The third-year HND graphic design student at Ayrshire College came up with the idea after trying to imagine how it would feel to be the victim of a stalker, and used typography techniques to come up with a head-and-shoulders silhouette featuring the hard-hitting message: “Stand together, say no”.
Leonie’s poster will be displayed in every corridor and notice board in schools, colleges and universities throughout Scotland and the rest of the UK.
She said: “After hearing Ann tell me what she had been through I thought it was horrendous. I tried to imagine how I would feel and came up with the idea to do a head and shoulders silhouette so that the message could be for women and men.
“Thankfully, I’ve never experienced anything like that in my life but I think it is a a good idea to get the message across to young people that it is not acceptable.”
Ann, 54, successfully campaigned to change the law after her tormentor Alex Reid got away with a lenient sentence because at the time stalking was not considered a crime.
Her former friend Reid, from Prestwick, Ayrshire, was put on probation for three years in April 2008 after admitting a breach of the peace charge.
In the aftermath, Ann was forced to move 80 miles from her home, losing her business and leaving behind friends and family, while her stalker was free to continue with his life.
Angry at the way she had been treated, Ann waived her right to anonymity and campaigned vigorously to have the law changed, setting up the charity Action Scotland Against Stalking.
Her efforts were successful and in December 2010, new laws were passed in Scotland, swiftly followed by the rest of the UK and much of Europe.
It was Ann who launched the poster competition won by Leonie because she wanted an anti-stalking poster to be designed as part of National Stalking Awareness Day next month.
She was joined on the judging panel by Callum Hendry of White Ribbon Scotland, a charity for men who want to end violence against women; South Ayrshire councillor Ann Galbraith, chairwoman of the Multi Agency Partnership to tackle violence against women and children; and South Ayrshire’s police liaison Sergeant Mark Hornby.
She gave students a strict brief for the poster design, which was to show what stalking is, highlight where someone can get help, and encourage people to come forward if they recognise they or someone else is being stalked.
Ann said: “They were all excellent. Everyone delivered the same message in a different way, so it was hard to pick which one would appeal to young people. In the end, we feel Leonie’s fitted the bill.
“Young people have the potential to be the voice of change of social attitudes. They can solve young people’s problems, we just need to help empower them to find ways to do that. And we hope the poster is going to be the start of something much, much better. It’s about standing together.”
White Ribbon Scotland claimed the poster said: “this is something we can tackle together – men and women.”
Leonie, from Catrine, Ayrshire, said she was “gobsmacked” that her poster was chosen but delighted at the same time.
She said: “It is amazing to be part of something like this and the thought that it might help someone just by looking at my poster is overwhelming.”
A recent anti-stalking DVD for schools, piloted by South Ayrshire Council, won an award and is now in demand nationally.
Friend Request, which was written and developed by senior pupils from all eight South Ayrshire Council secondary schools in conjunction with production company Film School, triumphed in the Early Intervention and Education category in the Safer Communities Scotland Awards 2015.
It tells the story of a young girl who accepts a friend request from a fellow pupil on a social media site that develops into something much more sinister.
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