A Countdown champion who travelled 400 miles to attack a in a supermarket has continued to harass his victim after his release from prison.
Richard Brittain left Paige Rolland with horrific head injuries after he tracked her down to the Asda store in where she worked and smashed a bottle of wine over her head.
Now, after being released from prison – and despite an indefinite non-harassment order – the twisted stalker has again contacted terrified Paige.
Brittain sent a handwritten poem to her home address in which he stated nothing was real “except their love” and said he “would love her now and forever”.
The sinister note described her as his “Scottish thistle” and “my love Paige”.
He signed off saying: “This page is torn because we are torn without each other.”
Paige, who has moved to a secret address, yesterday said she feels let down by the legal system.
She suffers from severe anxiety and has dropped out of her university course and is on medication to help her.
Paige said: “I live in fear every day he’s going to track me down again.
“I want people to know what this man is capable of – and nobody seems able to stop him.
“I was offered victim support at the time but ended up in private therapy.
“I just feel the justice system is geared towards the perpetrator and not the victim. It doesn’t take into account the long-term needs of a victim of an unprovoked attack.
“He obviously didn’t fear going back to prison or he wouldn’t have gone to such lengths to track down my home address again.
“Prison didn’t change him or rehabilitate him.”
Paige was a 18-year-old student nurse when Brittain attacked her.
The twisted stalker, who only served half of the 30-month sentence he was given in 2015, has also sent Paige a Facebook message since his release, declaring his love for her.
The alarming message said: “I dreamed of you last night. Are you going to send me back to prison?
“Maybe I need it – I’m bored out of my mind.
“How is the nursing degree going? I was quite surprised they revealed such information about you in court.
“I was tempted to get a bus ticket to Dundee and come visit you but I thought that might look weird.
“Any chance we could just become friends actually? We could keep our communications secret like we did in last night’s dream.”
Brittain, 32, then sent a second message apologising for sending the first and begged Paige not to tell anyone.
He also penned numerous sick poems about her on his blog, which has since been deleted.
One mentions a “Scotch tartan queen”, adding: “In the cereal aisle we made contact with one another.”
Paige, who is now 23 and trying to put the attack behind her, contacted Police Scotland when she received the letter.
Brittain was reported to the procurator fiscal, who decided not to proceed with charges due to the stalker’s mental health.
It’s understood he is in a psychiatric ward in England.
Recalling the attack, Paige told the Record: “I could have died had he hit me any harder.”
But she was refused criminal injury compensation when a panel ruled she had suffered no long-term physical effects of
the attack.
Paige said: “What about the mental effects? My life has changed completely. I was going to be a midwife and should be almost qualified now. Instead, I’m fighting a battle every day because of what he did to me.
“There needs to be greater emphasis on the mental well-being of victims of crime and support for however long they need it.”
Paige added: “I might have coped a lot better if he hadn’t continued to stalk me after he left prison.”
Brittain attacked Paige in October 2014 after she left an online review of a story he had uploaded to the internet. The pair had never met.
Glasgow Sheriff Court heard in 2015 that Brittain uploaded part of a published book of his, The World Rose, on to a website called Wattpad, where people can read and critique literature.
Paige read the excerpt and left comments about it.
Prosecutor Harry Findlay told the court: “The complainer had read some of that material and gave feedback of what she thought to be the merits or otherwise of the book.
“The feedback was negative. What followed were comments made by the accused, which give an indication that he was displeased.”
Brittain travelled from his home in Bedford after finding out that Paige worked at the Asda store in Glenrothes. He approached her from behind and smashed a bottle of wine over her head, leaving her with a gaping head wound.
Findlay told the court: “She was kneeling down collecting cereal from the bottom shelf of the aisle.
“While doing so, the accused approached without warning, any provocation or words and he struck the complainer on the back of the head with the bottle.
“One blow. It made contact and the wound bled immediately and she had a moment of unconsciousness.”
Brittain was also convicted of using Twitter and Instagram to stalk and terrorise another young woman, Ella Durant.
She blocked him from her social media accounts. But Ella told how, after moving from London to Glasgow, she spotted Brittain on the city’s Buchanan Street. Two days later, he was waiting for her when she left work.
She found a link to a blog called The Benevolent Stalker, which made reference to her.
Brittain was jailed for 30 months in December 2015 and released from prison in March 2017.
In 2006, he became Countdown champion after winning all eight heats of his run on the hit Channel 4 show.
He also appeared on Channel 5 gameshow BrainTeaser in January 2007, winning £1500.
