Ordeal that led to the call for change

The Government plans to tighten the law on stalking after a series of high-profile cases.

After one such case, Anthony Burstow, 36, was sentenced to three years' imprisonment last March for causing Tracey Sant, 28, grievous bodily harm. She had been subjected to three years of harassment.

Ms Sant said yesterday: "Nobody understands what being stalked is like unless they go through it. I was told just to ignore it and he would go away. But they don't go away, they just get worse."

Ms Sant, who met Burstow, a Falklands War veteran, while working with him at Gosport naval depot in Hampshire, kept a diary of her ordeal.

It recorded that the stalker plagued her from 1992 to 1995, following her, phoning and even bugging the house she shared with her husband, Andy.

Speaking at the one-day Suzy Lamplugh Trust conference on stalking at Westminster, she added: "It was horrific. I felt alienated and let down by the criminal justice system.

"I hope this new law will nip the problem in the bud - and prevent other women going through the ordeal I had to endure."

She continued: "I am a changed woman. In one way I am stronger, but not in another. I am very wary of men in general now.

"I get very worried if a car being driven by a man gets too close to my vehicle. At the time I was being stalked, I hated answering the phone or getting mail. That anxiety has stayed with me."