TV presenter stalked for six years

A BBC news presenter who lives less than a mile from where Jill Dando was murdered has been the victim of a stalker for the past six years, it emerged today.

Emily Maitlis, 31, who hosts the BBC's regional LDN news programme, has allegedly been followed in the street by the man, who has turned up at the studios in Marylebone where she works.

It is also claimed he has bombarded the Canadian-born TV presenter with letters and phone calls.

Scotland Yard was called in after Miss Maitlis, a former Sky News business correspondent, became concerned for her own welfare.

A 32-year-old student was later arrested and charged with harassing the news anchorwoman who lives in Hammersmith.

A police source said: "The harassment has gone on for the past six years. Emily called in police after becoming disturbed by what was happening.

"Emily was quite aware of what happened to Jill and decided the best course of action would be to call in the police."

Detectives from Fulham police station have been investigating Miss Maitlis's case since it was first reported.

Miss Maitlis - a languages graduate from Queen's College, Cambridge, who speaks fluent Mandarin, Spanish and Italian - cut her teeth as a documentary maker in land-mined northern Cambodia and the paddy fields in remote corners of China. She worked for the NBC network and was based in Hong Kong.

The 32-year-old student was charged under Section 2 of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 and was remanded in custody by West London magistrates last Thursday.

A Scotland Yard spokesman added: "This follows a complaint made by a woman that she was being harassed."

Last October a stalker who bombarded newsreader Julia Somerville with hundreds of obscene letters was detained under the Mental Health Act. Unemployed bachelor David Hughes, 47, sent almost 400 "lewd, offensive and possessive" letters and cards to the broadcaster over 10 years, and even moved from his home in Cheshire to Muswell Hill, where Miss Somerville lived, to be near her.

The move "greatly alarmed" Miss Somerville, 54, and prompted ITN to fit security equipment in her home.

In a separate case, Jeremy Dyer pleaded guilty to harassing TV anchorwoman Sarah Lockett, 34, who presented regional news programme Meridian Tonight.

He constantly telephoned and sent letters to the presenter for more than a year.

A jury failed to reach a verdict on another charge of making a threat to kill.