The Newsnight presenter Emily Maitlis was left feeling “scared and let down” after a man was able to carry on harassing her even while he was in jail for breaching a restraining order.

Maitlis described the strain of her 20-year ordeal at the hands of Edward Vines on Tuesday as he was sentenced to nearly four years in prison after admitting two breaches of the indefinite order banning him from contacting her.

Oxford crown court heard that 47-year-old Vines, with whom Maitlis briefly became friends when they were both studying at Cambridge University, had written letters to the BBC journalist while serving the prison sentence for the earlier breaches.

He had also written again after his release from prison while living in a bail hostel and the subject of licence conditions.

Edward Vines. Photograph: INS News Agency Ltd

Maitlis said she and her family had been let down by the criminal justice system, saying the unwanted attention had upset her husband and scared her children.

“When I heard that Edward Vines had breached his restraining order I felt scared and let down,” she said in a victim impact statement read out in court.



“Scared because it meant that even from within the prison system the perpetrator was able to reach me – let down because the system had been unable to stop him getting in touch even though the crime he is serving time for is harassment through unwanted and ongoing contact.”

Maitlis, who was not in court on Tuesday, said the harassment had affected her relationship with her husband, who she said was “frustrated that we cannot get to the bottom of this problem even though we have been tackling it through the Crown Prosecution Service and the courts for over 20 years”.

She said it had also scared her children, who “thought the threat had gone away – albeit temporarily – whilst he was behind bars”.

Maitlis’s statement added: “It has affected my ability to do my work – I am constantly thinking of where I am being sent and whether he will be attempting to track me down. And it affects everyday decisions like how I leave the house and how I get to work, what time I feel able to come home at night, I work late nights often.

“It also makes me jumpy around strangers for no reason as I fear any advance might be him.

“Altogether, the breach has been a reminder for me that this man remains a constant threat in my life and my family’s life and that my ability to do my work, hang out with my children and lead a normal family life without constant sense of suspicion and fear has been badly damaged.”

The judge, Peter Ross, described his ability to continue his campaign of harassment, even as he was behind bars and out on licence, as “wholly unsatisfactory” and gave the probation service and the governor at HMP Bullingdon 10 days to provide a written explanation.

In 2002, Vines was convicted of harassment after Maitlis contacted police about his erratic behaviour following the murder of her fellow broadcaster Jill Dando. In 2009, after Vines continued trying to contact Maitlis, he was given the restraining order.



He breached it by sending two letters to the journalist and emails and letters to her mother, Marion Maitlis, between 10 May and 26 June 2015.

When he was jailed in 2016 he refused to give a court unambiguous assurances that he would never contact the presenter or her family again, saying: “I will never contact them again if I’m defeated rationally in court – and I cannot say I have been today.”