This is Hannah. My amazing, beautiful, STRONG stepdaughter.
I’ve taken on power. And what’s happened to me is result of that choice. But for some women - like Hannah - there’s no choice. This 🧵= little bit of how she was targeted, hacked, stalked. And came back stronger. 1/
Hannah was harassed over months & years. The Met police refused to take seriously. Refused to investigate. They finally did when they appeared to acknowledged there was a risk to life. Her stalker was stopped & detained at Heathrow. And then let go. 2/
In 2018, Hannah learned that her friend from school, Alice Ruggles, had also been stalked. She’d also reported it to the police. She’d also not been believed. And then she was murdered. 3/
What happened to Alice Ruggles is so horrific it almost led to a change in the law. @thedalstonyears helped lead a national campaign to protect women from stalkers. It failed. Everything failed. 4/
This is gorgeous Hannah. Who I’ve been lucky enough to know since she was 7. Who has been harassed & stalked & abused for most of her adult life. And who’s had no recourse to justice or relief. 5/
This is not ok. And here is Hannah so very very STRONG.
6:
I wanted to tell this story, because Hannah had to be her own cavalry. And she was. She came through it partly by channelling this experience into her work. These are the rings I wore in court. All made by her. She’s a jewellery designer - & founded & created Jean London.
Her first line was Hannah May London - which included the ‘dainty’ (her words) circle on right which I wore when I gave my TED talk. But post-stalker, she created Jean & now she makes these amazing ROCKS & literal KNUCKLEDUSTERS.
Anyway. I’m telling this story because her grace & strength showed me a way through my recent ordeal. Because no woman should have to go through what she did. Because the law needs to change. And because women helping women stand up to power is a lesson to live by.
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The idea Boris Johnson has the ability, desire or moral leadership to ‘stand up to Vladimir Putin’ is utterly absurd. This is the man who personally suppressed Russia Report, who refuses to investigate foreign interference in our elections & who ennobled the son of a KGB officer
There’s so much absurdity in his speech, but don’t overlook this. Boris Johnson is knee deep in Kremlin cash & everything about the Russia Report was a national security disgrace & disaster. 2/
I have been through a trauma. And I need to speak publicly about it. About why this lawsuit sent me to such a dark place. And why the pursuit of individuals outside their news orgs is barbaric, cruel & a threat to all journalism
This is where it began. Nov 2017 with this video
This was 2 weeks after first Mueller indictment showed Trump-Russia investigation began in London & referenced Russian ambassador. And one day after Theresa May made a landmark speech about threat from Russia: ‘Russia, we see what you are doing’
This is how LeaveEU responded.
This is how I responded at time. I found it extraordinary LeaveEU was retweeting Russian Embassy’s attacks on MPs & journalists - @BenPBradshaw@RhonddaBryant@hugorifkind & I all tagged in.
But it was only me - the sole woman - who was singled out for the punishment beating
It’s an obscenity that the machinery of the British legal system can be used to target & harass journalists. This has to stop. I am profoundly grateful to Gavin Millar QC for setting out the legal & moral case for why we must defend public interest journalism.
And I survived 🙏
I wasn’t on trial for my life. But I was. My professional reputation, my career, potentially my home. I survived because I had to. And because I was lifted & supported by so many others who understood this was about something much bigger than me. And that I couldn’t do it alone.
What happens next is up to the judge. The verdict won’t be for weeks. But no-one who witnessed what happened in court can be in any doubt that this was about more than 23 words. The entire process was designed to punish, shame & humiliate me.
The bullying & intimidation a vivid microcosm of what these last 5 years have been like. There is a pattern of behaviour here. In 2014, Banks was arrested and issued with a harassment notice against a female employee.
End of Day 3. 2nd day in stand. Survived. Today’s special shout-out goes to stalwart @ObserverUK editor @paulfwebster, @sarah_donaldson the editor who shepherded me through entire investigation. And the wonderful @_EmmaGH who co-reported Cambridge Analytica alongside me💕
Webbo (aka @paulfwebster) is at the back top right & here’s @sarah_donaldson & @_EmmaGH having - I imagine - important discussions about the trials, tribulations & traumas of deciding to do public interest journalism for a living
Oh! And I accidentally missed out ‘amazing’ from my descriptor of @sarah_donaldson. Journalism: a team sport. Editors: the unsung heroes behind every journalist. Memories of the overwhelming exhaustion of that day very very close to the surface 💕
End of day 2. Thank you so much to @rebecca_vincent for monitoring this case on behalf of 16 freedom of expression orgs. And so much love to my lovely friends & colleagues for having my back. 💕💕💕