The maximum prison sentence for stalking is to be doubled to 10 years, the Ministry of Justice has announced.
Under government amendments to the policing and crime bill, the maximum sentence for racially or religiously aggravated harassment will also double, to 14 years.
The decision to increase punishments for stalking follows cross-party political pressure in parliament. Two Conservative backbenchers, Alex Chalk and Richard Graham, introduced a private member’s bill last year calling for the limit to be doubled.
Their initiative was adopted by the Labour peer Janet Royall in the House of Lords where it was passed by a majority last month. Ministers have been in discussion since then with MPs and peers.
The justice minister Sam Gyimah said: “Stalkers torment their victims and can make everyday life almost unbearable. We are doubling the maximum sentences available to the courts so these awful crimes can be properly punished.
“I would like to thank Alex Chalk and Richard Graham for their considerable efforts in highlighting this issue. We are also working across the criminal justice system to ensure mental health issues associated with these crimes are properly addressed.”
Lady Royall, Labour’s former leader in the Lords, said: “I am delighted by the government’s decision to double the maximum sentence for the heinous crime of stalking from five to 10 years.
“This will ensure that the punishment fits the crime and most importantly it will ensure justice for the victims whose lives have been blighted – victims like Ellie Aston, whose case was the catalyst for the excellent bill presented to parliament by Alex Chalk.”
In 2015, a total of 194 people were convicted of stalking offences and 835 were convicted of the related offence of putting people in fear of violence. The average custodial sentence for stalking was 14.1 months.
High-profile cases involving public figures have raised awareness of the problem. Last September Edward Vines, who stalked the Newsnight presenter Emily Maitlis for more than two decades, was jailed for three years. The court was told that he had put Maitlis and her family in fear for their safety.
Alex Gray, who stalked the singer Lily Allen for seven years and eventually broke into her home, was convicted last summer and ordered to be detained indefinitely under the Mental Health Act.
Concerns have been raised that doubling the maximum penalties for stalking, when compared to sentences for other crimes involving violence and physical harm, will upset the hierarchy of punishments available to the courts.
Harry Fletcher, the co-director of the campaign group Voice4Victims, said he had pressed the government instead for a change to the powers of the attorney general to refer unduly lenient stalking cases to the court of appeal. At present, stalking cases are not among those included in the unduly lenient appeals process.
“This is a huge message to stalkers to desist,” Fletcher said. “I don’t think it will have a massive impact on the prison population. It will not lead to a massive increase in average sentence lengths.”
Last month, Amber Rudd, the home secretary, announced the creation of stalking protection orders to allow courts to impose restrictions on perpetrators at an earlier stage while police investigate complaints.
The policing and crime bill, with the new sentencing amendments, returns to the Commons next Tuesday.
Richard Burgon, the shadow justice secretary, responding to the Ministry of Justice announcement on sentencing for stalking offences, said: “In December the government voted against Labour peer Baroness Royall’s amendment to increase the maximum sentence for stalking.
“Thankfully, under pressure, the Tories have changed their mind. But more still needs to be done to ensure that victims of stalking feel confident enough that their complaint will be investigated properly when they first report it.”