Baby Reindeer ‘stalker’s’ publicity surge concerns me & now it’s on TV it’ll only get worse, expert criminologist says

AN expert criminologist has told how he is concerned by a surge in publicity over the real Baby Reindeer 'stalker'.

David Wilson, professor of criminology at Birmingham City University, told The Sun the situation will only get worse now it's on TV.

The real-life Martha, Fiona Harvey, last night "set the record straight" in a tell-all interview with Piers Morgan.

She was tracked down by internet sleuths after hit Netflix show Baby Reindeer told the "true story" of comedian Richard Gadd's 'stalking horror'.

In the mini-series, which was released last month, the then-struggling comic hands Martha a free cup of tea while working behind a bar.

Things then turn sinister as Martha, played by Jessica Gunning, embarks on a campaign of harassment - sending thousands of emails and leaving lewd voicemails.

Fiona told Piers Morgan Uncensored the comedian and actor behind the Netflix show is “making money out of untrue facts”.

She went on to describe Gadd, 34, as "a complete psychopath" who has “done bloody well out of defaming me".

David has now told how the extra attention could actually make the situation much worse.

He said: ";What Richard Gadd has dramatised in relation to Fiona Harvey, if we are to believe that, then the sudden interest in her is a form of validation."

He said it would be "unhelpful in terms of her long term recovery from the kinds of underlying problems that she has had and might still be experiencing";.

Fiona, 58, claims to be the inspiration for the character Martha, who is seen bombarding protagonist Donnie Dunn and showing up at the pub where he works every day.

David added: "This is the story that's going to run and run and run. I've watched it with a mixture of fascination and horror."

He said protagonist Donny didn't demonstrate a healthy way of dealing with a potential stalker, at times appearing to encourage the attention.

"In the end, I became really worried because I felt that some of the information, given how much Baby Reindeer was predicated upon being a true story, I became worried that the information that the viewer might receive from the drama was not information that I would advise people who are being stalked to listen to.

"I felt that if this was indeed a true story the person being stalked behaved in ways that were not particularly helpful about ending the stalking."

In one terrifying scene Donny gets a glimpse into Martha's "madness" during a coffee date.

David added: "Richard Gadd says he genuinely took the stalker out for coffee and walked her home.

"That kind of behaviour, if it genuinely was the behaviour he had engaged in, would merely have encouraged the belief that there was a genuine relationship."

Harvey was 'outed' within hours of the show premiering on Netflix last month by internet sleuths.

It's a work of hyperbole, as I've always said. And there are two true facts in that. His name is Richard Gadd, and he works as a jobbing barman on benefits, in the Hawley Arms. And we met, two or three times

Fiona Harvey'Real-life Martha'

Speaking on Morgan's new YouTube channel, she said: "I just generally think he's got extreme psychiatric problems.

"It's a work of fiction. It's a work of hyperbole, as I've always said.

"And and there are two true facts in that. His name is Richard Gad, and he worked as a jobbing barman on benefits, in the Holy Arms.

"And we met two, three times."

Harvey claimed to be setting the record straight after being unmasked by fans of the hit Netflix show.

At the start of each episode it states ‘This is a True Story’.

During the interview, Harvey denied ever being at his home, contacting his parents or sending thousands of texts and email messages.

On being ‘outed’ within hours as the ‘real-life Martha’ online, she said: “On the internet, sleuths tracked me down and hounded me and gave me death threats. So it wasn't really a choice. I was forced into this situation.”

Asked if she had watched the drama, she replied: “Not at all. I've heard about the court scene, about the jail sentences and all this sort of stuff… I haven't watched any of it.” 

Saying that she had only met Gadd two or three times, she said she first heard about the Netflix show two weeks ago.

She said the interest in her was: “Absolutely horrendous. Absolutely horrendous. I couldn't believe he'd done that. And so long after the first meeting, you know, we're talking 10, 12 years ago. Really horrendous.”

Harvey added: “I just generally think he's got extreme psychiatric problems…  It's a work of fiction.

"It's a work of hyperbole, as I've always said. And there are two true facts in that. His name is Richard Gadd, and he works as a jobbing barman on benefits, in the Hawley Arms. And we met, two or three times…”

Morgan asked if it was true Gadd had offered her a free cup of tea after she walked into the pub where he was working, she replied: “No, that's not correct. He didn't offer me a cup of tea…

"I was in for a meal with, a drink of lemonade, and I was very, very hungry. I'm diabetic, so, very hungry. So that's true.” 

Morgan said: “And did you talk to him?” 

Harvey said: “He interrupted a conversation… he said, ‘Oh, you're Scottish’, and basically commandeered the conversation. You know, I was talking to somebody. It's pretty rich. Interrupt. So he seemed to be obsessed with me from that moment onwards.”

On whether she said he looked like a ‘baby reindeer’ toy she had as a child, she added: “I had a toy reindeer and he’d shaved his head, that bit is true, and there were reindeer in the shops because it was Christmas time or something. It was a joke. So I have inadvertently penned the name of the show.”

She also confirmed banter in the pub had been common, like talking about hanging curtains. “This was a Hawley Arms joke about curtains and a lot of sexual innuendo,” she said.

Harvey denied Gadd had ever been caught peeping in her window, adding: “False… I didn't see him at my house. I think it would be impossible to look through a window… That categorically didn't happen.”

FLURRY OF MESSAGES

Pressed on the 41,000 emails, 350 hours of voice messages, 744 tweets, 48 Facebook messages, and 106 letters she is alleged to have sent him, she retorted: “That's simply not true. If somebody was sending somebody 41,000 emails or something, they'd be doing how many a day? Lots.”

She went on to say they had a couple of email exchanges, resulting in about 10 emails sent by her.

She said it was "jokey banter", but she never sent Facebook or text messages - though then admitted she did send around 18 tweets.

A Netflix executive had claimed producers took every precaution to protect any real life inspirations for characters on the series.

Speaking in parliament,  policy chief Benjamin King said that Netflix and Clerkenwell Films - who made the show - took "every reasonable precaution in disguising the real-life identities of the people involved in that story".

Mr King said Netflix needed to balance protecting identities with upholding the "veracity and authenticity" of the show. 

"We didn't want to anonymise that or make it generic to the point where it was no longer his story because that would undermine the intent behind the show," the senior public policy director said.

"Ultimately, it's obviously very difficult to control what viewers do, particularly in a world where everything is amplified by social media.

"I personally wouldn't be comfortable with a world in which we decided it was better that Richard was silenced and not allowed to tell the story."