In April she had to change her mobile number after a string of abusive texts and calls. She began to worry – and reported the incident to the police.īut she claims they told her the crime wasn’t serious enough to warrant an investigation. Helen assumed it was local yobs, especially since Willis was first on the scene to help her fix them.Ī week later she came home to find her front door locks filled with glue. But within a couple of months, in January, her bike-tyres were slashed. “I even explained nicely but firmly nothing would happen between us.” “I explained my mobile had been on silent and I’d told him before I wouldn’t be going to the gig. “He kept asking why I didn’t answer the phone. She went on: “He was slurring his words and smelt of booze. She said Willis seemed drunk and demanded to know why Helen hadn’t gone to the concert with him and hadn’t returned his calls. “I almost felt like he’d been waiting for me – but I shrugged it off.” “Next morning at 7am he was loitering outside the building. “On the night of the gig he rang me a few times but I didn’t answer. Helen said: “It was out of the blue and because I wasn’t interested in him in that way I told him firmly no. Living in fear: Helen Pearson (Image: Sonja Horsman) He responded by asking her to go to a concert with him the following week. She was keen to be on good terms with other people in the block, so when an elderly woman neighbour said her son Joe was sick, unemployed and lonely, Helen offered to help.īut she had a funny feeling about the bachelor from the start.Īnd even though they seemed to hit it off, she was certain there could never be any romance with him.ĭespite her worries, Helen invited Willis to join her for a charity cycle ride. She had just moved out of her parents’ house and was relishing the independence of a place of her own and a new job working for a mental health charity. Helen’s life was turned upside down soon after she settled into a flat in Exeter in November 2008. “If it wasn’t for the actions of that kind passer-by, I would not be here today.” “The system needs to change and stalking needs to be taken seriously. “The police had ample opportunity to catch him before he tried to kill me – they could have prevented this. “I still get vivid flashbacks and every time my phone rings my heart beats out of my chest. She said: “Just because he’s locked away doesn’t mean my ordeal is over. Willis, 49, is due to be sentenced at Exeter Crown Court in June after being convicted of attempted murder.īut Helen insists no jail sentence will ever be long enough to help her get over the emotional torture she endured at his hands. She only survived because a heroic passer-by dragged him off her. Yet despite begging for help at least 120 times, cops failed to take the threats against her seriously enough.Īnd within a fortnight of the cat being dumped on Helen’s doorstep, stalker Joe Willis dragged the 34-year-old into a graveyard and stabbed her eight times with a pair of scissors. It was the penultimate act in a terrifying stalking drama launched five years earlier by Willis.ĭuring that time he had plagued her with hate-mail, vandalised her car and bike, bombarded her with menacing texts and daubed threatening graffiti outside her home – including the sick warning: “Die, Helen, die.” Helen answered a knock on her door one day – and was horrified to find a dead cat lying in a pool of blood on the mat. Willis now faces a long jail sentence for attempted murder. The charity worker said: “The police had ample opportunity to catch him before he tried to kill me.” Helen, 34, from Exeter, was saved by a passer-by. Loner Joe Willis, 49, inflicted horrific wounds with a foot-long pair of scissors. Petrified Helen Pearson begged cops for help 120 times as she endured a five-year reign of terror at the hands of a stalker.īut she claims police FAILED to take her seriously – until her tormentor stabbed her eight times in a churchyard.
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