What to do if you are being harassed

If someone is harassing you what can you do? You can pursue a defendant for harassment through both the criminal and civil courts, separately or at the same time. Taking expert legal advice at an early stage is the best way for you to decide how to deal with your harassment case. 

What Happens in a Criminal Harassment Case?

If you are being harassed you can make a report to the police. The police should investigate your complaints, and will decide what further action to take. In some cases, the police will speak to the person who is harassing you, which can be enough to persuade them to stop. In other cases, they may make an application to have the person harassing you made subject to a Stalking Prevention Order (SPO). If an SPO is breached, the consequences for the harasser will escalate.

In the most serious cases, the police will refer the matter to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). The job of the CPS is to assess the evidence of harassment and if it is serious enough, the harasser can be charged with a criminal offence. If the harasser pleads guilty, they would be sentenced, and if they plead not guilty, there would be a trial. 

If your harasser pleads guilty, or if they are found guilty at trial, they can be imprisoned, fined and/or made subject to restraining orders.

What Happens in a Civil Claim for Damages for Harassment?

Civil harassment involves establishing that there has been “a persistent and deliberate course of unreasonable and oppressive conduct, which is calculated to and does cause you alarm, fear or distress” (Hayes v Willoughby [2013] UKSC 17). The key aspect of this definition is that there has been a “course of conduct”. This means that the harassing behaviour must occur on more than one occasion (a minimum of two). 

The harassing behaviour must be “more than minor irritations or occasional annoyances”, and therefore must reach a level of seriousness that goes beyond what is typically experienced in day-to-day interactions. Some common examples of conduct that may constitute civil harassment include:

• Unwanted communication, such as repeated phone calls, texts, or emails, or messages or posts on social media;
• Surveillance or stalking, including following someone, showing up uninvited at their home or workplace, or monitoring their activities;
• Making contact with third parties who are close to you such as your friends, family or employer; and
• Threatening behaviour, whether verbal or physical threats that cause genuine fear.

When you instruct us to help you bring a claim for harassment, we will usually start by asking you to put together a chronology of all of the harassment that has happened. We can also help you prepare the chronology. 

The next step is to send a letter of claim to your harasser, setting out full details of their harassment, and asking them to stop their behaviour immediately and promise not to continue it in future, as well as as asking for payment of a sum in damages and your legal costs.

If the harasser does not agree to settle the claim for harassment quickly, it may be necessary to issue court proceedings. If the case doesn't settle, it can go all the way to trial. During the final hearing, a judge will assess the nature and frequency of the conduct based on the individual circumstances of each case, and consider whether the specific actions have caused significant distress or fear. They will decide whether the threshold for harassment has been met and if it has, order the defendant to pay damages and costs, and (almost certainly) make them subject to an injunction. 

If a defendant breaches an injunction which has been imposed upon them in the civil courts, they can be arrested, imprisoned and fined. 

In cases where the harassing person's conduct is so serious that it is deemed criminal in nature, the police or CPS may pursue criminal prosecution. If a defendant is found guilty of harassment in a criminal court, it is far easier to bring a civil claim for harassment against them.  

Bringing Harassment and Defamation Claims Together

If you are a victim of harassment, it is very common for you also to be a victim of defamation (libel or slander). In many cases the defendant's actions which are harassing of you (such as contacting your employer or friends and family) can also be defamatory (libellous or slanderous). This would apply if the harasser is making statements about you which are untrue. 

Harassment claims therefore frequently go hand-in-hand with claims for libel or slander. Both claims should be brought at the same time, and if there is defamation involved as well as harassment, it can mean that you are awarded a higher sum in damages. 

When you instruct us to deal with a claim for harassment, we will always consider whether you have any other types of claim (such as libel or slander) at the very outset. We will identify which are the best types of claim for you to bring. 

How can Harassment Cases be Defended? 

To successfully defend a harassment claim, the defendant must be able to show that their conduct was:

• Pursued for the purpose of preventing or detecting crime (such as reporting suspicious behaviour to authorities);
• Pursued under an enactment or rule of law; or
• Reasonable in all of the circumstances. 

Unless a defendant can prove that their behaviour falls into one of these categories, there is a good chance that they could be successfully sued for damages. 

How to Start a Claim for Damages for Harassment

Harassment is not something that anybody should be expected to tolerate. If you want to stop someone harassing you, we can help. At Samuels, we have extensive experience representing clients in harassment claims. Whether you are facing harassment, defamation, or a combination of both, we can help you take the first steps toward stopping the behaviour and seeking the compensation and legal protections you deserve. 

If you or someone you know is being harassed, please do not hesitate to contact us today.