Call for tougher law against stalkers

Stalking should be made a specific criminal offence to stop victims being let down by the justice system, Labour will say today.

Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper will make the pledge in a speech before Labour's annual conference, which opens tomorrow.

She will blame a "lack of clarity" in the law for allowing stalking cases to escalate into still more "heinous" crimes against both women and men.

Campaigners believe the 1997 Protection from Harassment Act, which is used to prosecute stalkers, needs reviewing.