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A mum-of-four was one of the people targeted by a evil stalker who sent letter threatening to rape and murder children. Ben Strangeways had a fascination with serial killers and embarked on a disturbing poison pen letter campaign where he sent mail to at least 10 victims in the country.
Teesside Crown Court heard this week that the letters included graphic detail of “the rape and murder of their children as well as references to engaging in necrophilia”. Cleveland Police, who led the investigation into the 21-year-old, said he targeted women at random. One officer said the letters were “some of the most disturbing evidence” they had ever dealt with.
One of Strangeways’ victims was a mum-of-four from Merseyside. The mum, whose identity the ECHO has protected due to the nature of the crimes, said today that she received the anonymous letter delivered to her house by Royal Mail on January 9 this year. She said reading the letter was “the most horrific, sickening experience I’ve had to go through”.
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The letter, which makes reference to murdered toddler James Bulger, describes how the sender would sexually and physically assault and then kill her daughter. The ECHO has chosen not to directly quote any of the letter due to the explicit and disturbing nature of its contents.
The mum said she reported the letter to Merseyside Police and went to collect her children because she feared for their safety. The police collected the letter and took it away for forensics, before they came back with a match after Strangeways was arrested in Middlesbrough.
The court heard this week that Strangeways was arrested at a bus station on January 10 after an officer identified him as a wanted man. He was found in possession of a flick knife and an “attack kit”, which contained handcuffs, eye mask, ankle and wrist ties, energy tablets and a drink.
A search of his home address uncovered further handwritten letters, a black balaclava, a hammer, a knife, air pistol, a number of books about serial killers and a “child like” sex doll. Investigations found his first victim received a Christmas card on December 24 at her parents’ address which said: “Lots of love, from someone special.”
Appearing at court, the Merseyside mum, whose four children are all 10 or under, read her victim impact statement directly to Strangeways. In the statement shared with the ECHO the mum said she couldn’t “eat, sleep or think straight” after receiving the letter and kept her children inside the house because she wouldn’t let them out of her sight.
She said: “I feel like I’m going crazy, when I do go out I am always looking at people, questioning why they are smiling or if they’re looking at my kids. I have lost all trust in people. I need to move. I will never feel safe in here again.
“How did he get my address? How did he know about my kids? These questions haunt me…I need our normal, happy, active life back. I cannot live in fear like this for much longer.”
Speaking to the ECHO, she added: “The worst is he has no connection to Liverpool. He’s from miles away, I’ve never met this person before or even heard of him. He won’t tell us how he got our information down to personal details about who lived at the address. We may never find out.
“It’s been like living a nightmare. I would never wish this ordeal on my worst enemy, but I took back control when I stood up to him and told him how much of a damaged person he is and how he will never have control again.”
Strangeways, who had no previous convictions, admitted one count of stalking involving serious alarm or distress, nine counts of sending threatening communications, and one of possession of a bladed article in a public place. The sentencing judge told Strangeways he had “never come across a more disturbing case of this type before”.
He told Strangeways: “You are dangerous and you will remain dangerous for the foreseeable future.” Strangeways, of Whitby Avenue in Eston, was jailed for a total of nine years and five months and will serve an additional 27 months on extended licence. An indefinite sexual harm prevention order and restraining orders were also granted.
The mum told the ECHO: “I find it difficult to believe that I am the only person in Merseyside to have received one of these letters” – and urged anyone who might have received a similar note to contact to “lengthen his sentence”. She added: “This monster needs to stay in prison for the public’s safety.”
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