Move to ban stalker from talking to women

A chief constable has gone to court in a bid to ban a stalker from being alone with any woman in Scotland for the next 30 years.

John Vine, the Chief Constable of Tayside, wants the unusual order to be granted against a "highly dangerous" sex offender. If the move is successful, Robert Basterfield, 35, will barred from talking to, or contacting, any lone female without her "express consent" until he is a pensioner.

Perth sheriff court was told that the police force believes that a Sexual Offences Protection Order, which would run until 2037, is necessary to protect the public.

Basterfield, a former taxi driver with dual British/Australian nationality, has twice been convicted of terrorising women by confronting them and following them home. He is already the subject of an interim order banning him from being alone with any women, and is also banned from any "recreational activity", such as visiting the cinema or a bar, without the permission of his probation officer.