Louise Minchin has spoken out about being a victim to a stalker that made her and her family feel like prisoners in their own home.
The former BBC Breakfast presenter recalled the experience where she was harassed by Carl Davies.
The 44-year-old was recently sentenced to two years and eight months in prison.
He sent threats to both Louise and her teenage daughter Mia via social media in July 2020, the Mirror reports.
“The reason I am choosing to do so is to send a clear message to anyone who has been a victim of similar abuse that they are not alone, they are not powerless, and those trolls who send violent threatening messages can be identified, can be caught and can be sent to prison,” Louise told The Daily Telegraph.
Graphic threats were sent in the messages as well as information that proved Mr Davies knew where the family lived and had visited the location before.
“I am so careful about my personal life. I never say exactly where I live, very rarely post pictures of the girls or say anything overly identifying in interviews or on air," Louise added.
“Suddenly, here was this stranger who knew things you could never have got from just Googling me. The details he had about where I live were chilling, he could have only known them if he had been stood right outside my house.”
Mr Davies sent the messages while Louise and her family were on holiday.
The ordeal made the family feel like prisoners in their own home for weeks while Louise's daughter "desperately didn't want to go home".
A police investigation was launched which lasted for nine months, ending in Mr Davies being charged.
Louise states that she was "wracked with guilt" and "hated that my profile meant Mia was having to go through all this".
The incident even forced her to consider leaving her presenter job at BBC Breakfast but she was supported by her daughter's who told her not to "let him win".
“It’s thanks to them that I didn’t just quit that week,” she told the paper.
Louise said “if anything good” could come from the experience it was “the clear message that perpetrators don’t always stay anonymous; they can be prosecuted”.
“Mia and I have both needed help to cope with what we’ve been through and are doing much better now, though it has left a mark,” she said.
