HEARING a pounding on her front door, mum Megan Brailsford opened to find the police on her doorstep for the fourth time that week – this time flanked by armed cops.
The loving mum-of-two, from Peterborough, Cambs, had been accused of killing her children by an anonymous caller to the local force – amid a terrifying stalking campaign that lasted four months.
Channel 4Megan and her partner Dan Dugdale both reported the vile messages to cops[/caption]
Channel 4Megan spent four months be sent sick death threats from anonymous accounts[/caption]
Channel 4DC Emily Richardson was tasked with trying to unmask Megan’s stalker[/caption]
Megan, 31, was bombarded with death threats and rape threats – at one point every four seconds – and had taxis ordered to her house at all times of the day and night for four months.
Ex-partner Dan Dugdale, who was still living in her house, had also been reporting vile messages from the anonymous stalker.
In an exclusive chat, Megan told The Sun: “He made my life hell. I became a recluse because I was too scared to go out. I couldn’t walk the dogs on my own. I couldn’t really go anywhere without another adult.
“Taking the kids to school and going to work was frightening. I lost friends because I became paranoid as to who was doing it to me.
“It left me feeling completely insane by the middle of it all.”
The terrifying ordeal for the veterinary nurse has been caught on camera by Channel 4’s 24 Hours in Police Custody – including the numerous visits cops made to her house over reports she had murdered her children or ex Dan.
Murder confessions
The couple met in the town square in Peterborough, which is where Dan asked her out on a date.
Megan’s mum Lisa said: “He seemed happy and bouncy, like an overgrown puppy.”
But Megan was unsure about seeing Dan until her mum persuaded her to give him a chance.
The pair dated for around six months before he moved in with Megan and her two children, a son aged 11 at the time and a daughter aged seven.
Lisa told The Sun: “I feel hugely guilty for what happened to her because I suggested she give him a chance.
“They seemed ok from the outside but things weren’t great. He cheated on her and there had been abuse.
“But when they broke up, she tried to be kind and let him sleep on her couch until he found somewhere.
“She didn’t tell me about the messages she was getting for a long time.”
Initially, Megan assumed the chilling texts were from a prankster that Dan had annoyed, who would soon get bored.
The messages started off with things like “I’m watching you” and “That’s a nice dog. Shame if it got hurt,” before progressing into hoax murder reports to the cops.
Random people were messaged on Snapchat and Facebook from the stalker, pretending to be Megan confessing to killing her children and asking for them to call the cops.
There were also calls to Social Services claiming she was a sex worker and took drugs around her kids.
Things then became more sinister and Megan received messages saying “Megan are you ready to die?”, “I wouldn’t rape you, you’ll be begging for it” and “can I kill you, your kids would be better off without you”.
She was also sent videos of bestiality, pornography and photos of mutilated dogs that looked like the ones she owned.
Megan also had to deal with taxis turning up at her door day and night, booked in her name and on her credit card.
You honestly feel like you’re losing your mind.”
Megan
“I was getting no sleep at night, maybe two hours at most,” she said.
“That was because of all the messages, police constantly being called out to my house and the taxis that would turn up.
“I’d stay up really late, anxious that the police would turn up. I started sleeping in my kitchen.
“I had to carry a panic alarm with me, as did my children, so I had to explain it to them in a way that didn’t leave them frightened.
“I was exhausted.”
Suicidal thoughts
As the tirade of abuse ramped up, Megan struggled to cope and her mum found her at one of her lowest points.
“She had no life and one day I went round and let myself in the house to find her on the kitchen floor in a foetal position,” Lisa recalled.
“She looked at me and said ‘Mum I can’t do this anymore. Will you look after my babies?’
“Something in me snapped and I told her we weren’t doing that and to get up.
“I think that made something snap for her too and she decided she wouldn’t put up with it anymore.”
In a bid to get Megan feeling safer, Lisa helped her daughter change the locks and installed security cameras.
Dan also offered to move back in, to act as protection.
Fake claims
Channel 4Dan Dugdale claimed that he was being sent vile messages from a random stalker[/caption]
Channel 4Megan was too scared to leave the house[/caption]
In an interview in the documentary, Dan claims he was worried about being killed.
“I have anxiety attacks quite a lot, I shake, I’m scared that someone’s gonna kill me,” he claimed.
“I can be sat in a room full of people, you don’t know what a, b, c, person is going to do to you. How are you meant to go out with friends when you feel like that? When everyone is against you.”
But in a horrifying twist, it turned out that Dan was behind the sustained campaign of abuse – and cops believe he even quit his job to devote his entire time to stalking his ex.
After he was arrested by the cops for stalking Megan, his phone was found to have accessed accounts that sent her abusive messages and a deleted note with an identical message that was sent to the 101 web chat.
Initially he denied stalking her, but eventually claimed he wanted to apologise to Megan. He still denied some harassment, including reporting her to Social Services in a bid to get her children taken away.
The malicious report alleged that Megan was a prostitute and using drugs in the same home as the kids.
“That report to social services broke me,” Megan said.
“He’d threatened it and then backed down but he obviously had done it.
The sending of the voice notes with a changed audio was just absolutely chilling. It was like something out of a horror movie.”
DC Emily Richardson
“I’m just grateful that people listened to me. I thought I was sounding like a mad woman when I relayed what was going on.”
Dan had also emailed Megan’s work, masquerading as her, to resign and also messaged the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons asking to be removed from the veterinary nurses register.
Detective Constable Emily Richardson, 34, had started to believe that Dan was behind the abuse because of the personal details that were included in the messages.
But it took time to gather enough evidence to be able to arrest him and seize his phone for examination.
Once she had arrested him, she was able to find evidence on his phone that made it clear he was behind it.
Reflecting on the investigation, she said: “Stalking cases are horrible and scary, but this one was absolutely relentless.
UK stalking statistics
It is believed that one in seven Brits have experienced some kind of stalking since the age of 16, according to the office of national statistics.
Women are more likely to be the victim of stalking then men, with one in five having experinced it in some capacity.
Where as just one in 11 men have expereinced it in some form.
It is estimated by the ONS that 1.5million people aged 16 or over have expereinced stalking in the 12 months ending in March 2024.
The person doing the stalking will have an obsession with the person they are targeting. The behaviour is similar to harrassment but is more agressive.
Stalking is defined in UK law, and can include the following behaviours:
regularly following someone
repeatedly going uninvited to their home
checking someone’s internet use, email or other electronic communication
hanging around somewhere they know the person often visits
interfering with their property
watching or spying on someone
identity theft (signing-up to services, buying things in someone’s name)
“Dan quit his job so that he could do it full-time. He used really horrible personal things against her.
“The sending of the voice notes with a changed audio was just absolutely chilling. It was like something out of a horror movie.”
Victim blaming
Channel 4Dugdale blamed Megan for causing him problems after stalking her[/caption]
Channel 4Dan subjected her to months of terror[/caption]
During the interviews, Dugdale refused legal advice claiming he knew what he wanted to say.
He also kept insisting that he was a victim of anonymous abuse as well but was caught out by a deleted voice note which said: “I’ve killed my kids. I need your help. I have weapons in the house. They are not breathing. I have buried them on the dog walking trail.”
It was identical to a message sent anonymously to 101’s webchat which had sparked an armed response to Megan’s home.
Despite initially trying to deny it, Dugdale eventually confessed to being behind most of the abuse sent to Megan.
Incredibly, he was still keen to be involved in the C4 documentary after being arrested.
I feel hugely guilty for what happened to her because I suggested she give him a chance.
Lisa, Megan’s mum
In one chat on camera, he chillingly blamed Megan for his stalking behaviour and obsession with her.
He said: “Love breaks so quickly. That [pointing to an M tattooed on his finger] is the initial of the girl who got me in trouble.
“One thing I do believe in, the worst drug you can do is love and everyone wants a bit. It’ll ruin you.”
How you can get help
Women’s Aid has this advice for victims and their families:
Always keep your phone nearby.
Get in touch with charities for help, including the Women’s Aid live chat helpline and services such as SupportLine.
If you are in danger, call 999.
Familiarise yourself with the Silent Solution, reporting abuse without speaking down the phone, instead dialing “55”.
Always keep some money on you, including change for a pay phone or bus fare.
If you suspect your partner is about to attack you, try to go to a lower-risk area of the house – for example, where there is a way out and access to a telephone.
Avoid the kitchen and garage, where there are likely to be knives or other weapons. Avoid rooms where you might become trapped, such as the bathroom, or where you might be shut into a cupboard or other small space.
If you are a victim of domestic abuse, SupportLine is open Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 6pm to 8pm on 01708 765200. The charity’s email support service is open weekdays and weekends during the crisis – [email protected].
Women’s Aid provides a live chat service – available weekdays from 8am-6pm and weekends 10am-6pm.
You can also call the freephone 24-hour National Domestic Abuse Helpline on 0808 2000 247.
When Megan was informed it was Dugdale that had been behind the abuse, she burst into tears but admitted it made sense.
Megan says their relationship had collapsed because of his constant cheating and poor behaviour.
In the documentary, Megan said: “I was barricaded inside my house all the time. Doors locked, windows locked.
“You honestly feel like you’re losing your mind. I ended up lashing out at everyone and shutting myself off.”
Sinister reminder
Channel 4Lisa feels guilty for what her daughter went through with Dugdale[/caption]
Channel 4Megan has had to move away from Peterborough after the horrible ordeal[/caption]
After Dugdale’s arrest and charge, Megan decided to redecorate her room in a bid to try to move on.
But she was horrified to find love notes he’d scrawled under pictures all over the house.
One said: “Just know I was proud to call you mine, all my forever love, Dan.”
Megan said: “I wanted nothing to do with him and yet I was having to see his handwriting and these loves notes on the wall. It made me feel really uncomfortable.”
Dan was convicted of stalking, inciting fear of violence and perverting the course of justice. He was sentenced to three years and nine months in jail.
Traumatised, Megan has had to move away from Peterborough and says she will avoid the town altogether out of fear when Dan is released .
24 Hours In Police Custody: The Murder Messages is on Monday 25 November at 9pm on Channel 4
Channel 4DC Emily compared Dugdale’s abuse to something out of a horror film[/caption] Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
