Hi everyone. I really need help or advice, because I’m feeling terrified and helpless. Two weeks ago, I was walking home from the train station and passed a man who was just parking outside his house. I was leaving a voice note for my mum in Arabic, and he heard me. Out of nowhere, he spat at me, shouted racist and misogynistic abuse, and then went inside his house.
Shaken, I began walking away and I called my husband on video to tell him what had just happened. Suddenly, the same man came charging out of his house aggressively- hood up, hand in his pocket, yelling that I was a “b*tch” for "calling my fella". He threatened to beat both of us up, saying if my husband came, he’d attack him. My husband witnessed some of this over the video call.
I managed to screenshot the man’s face during the video call. I ran across the road to get away, and he chased me. I yelled that I was calling the police, and that’s when he finally turned and went back to his house. Once I saw his door shut, I rang 999 and started reporting everything.
But then it got worse. While I was still on the phone to the police, the man came out of his house again, this time running full speed towards me, while on the phone (presumably calling his friends). I genuinely thought I was going to die. I was screaming to the police that he was going to kill me. They told me to hide and not go home in case he followed me. I was just running and panicking.
Eventually, I collapsed from the fear. Around that time, my husband arrived and two police cars showed up. At the same moment, two cars full of men (the attacker’s friends) also turned up. The police arrested him and took me to the station to give a statement. My husband also gave a witness statement since he saw parts of it over video.
I submitted everything I had:
Screenshot of the man’s face
The original voice note where he first spat at me and abused me
A video of him shouting abuse
My husband also gave a witness account like I said, which is also evidence. My husband and I were kept separate the whole time (he arrived at the same time as the police) and they took me separately in their police car and took me straight to the room, while my husband waited in the reception area. We had no private contact and he gave his own account independently.
Despite this, the man was released the next day with NO CHARGES. They told me there wasn’t enough evidence. I submitted a Victim’s Right to Review, but the decision came back saying they were satisfied with the police's call not to charge him.
Now I’m living in constant fear. This man lives extremely close to me. Both him and his friends saw my face, my husband’s face, and our number plate. I can’t walk near his house, and any time I see a man in my area with his build, I get anxious and have to check his face to see if it’s him. It’s like I’m reliving the fear constantly and looking over my shoulder whenever I leave my house.
I don’t understand how someone can do all of this and walk free without a single consequence. The police say there’s nothing else they can do.
Is there anything else I can do? Any legal recourse? I’ve tried calling lawyers, but I keep getting told they only deal with criminal defence or criminal law after charges have been made. It seems like no one helps the victim’s side- especially when there’s no court case involved.
I feel like I’ve been left to fend for myself and I’m scared for my safety. Wondering if anyone has any ideas of what else I can do?