Friends of a 23-year-old woman stabbed to death by a Tinder stalker have told of the chilling campaign of abuse she was subjected to in the days before she was brutally murdered.
'Beautiful and intelligent' Molly McLaren had her whole life ahead of her when she matched a stranger on the dating app. It was that seemingly innocuous decision that set off a chain of horrific events that ended up with her being murdered in the most horrific circumstances by her ex boyfriend Joshua Stimpson, from Stoke-on-Trent. Her story is now the subject of Channel 5 documentary series Stalked: Murder In Slow Motion.
Murderer Joshua Stimpson, pictured with Molly McLaren (No credit)Her best friend Amy Lee said: "She never really had a lot of boyfriends. She was quite passionate about finding the right person. For her it wasn't about being in a relationship because everyone else was or because she felt she should be. It was very much about connecting with someone on a personal level."
She spoke with Stimpson., who grew up in Stoke-on-Trent but was living just nine miles from Molly in Kent at the time, for 'quite some time' before finally meeting up a few months later. It was Molly's first serious relationship, and they seemed to share a love of exercise and similar struggles in life, reports Stoke-on-Trent Live.
Molly entered into a relationship with Stimpson after matching on Tinder (No credit)
Stimpson began sending abusive messages and following Molly after she broke up with him over his controlling behaviour (No credit)But after several months of dating, the relationship became strained due to increasingly controlling behaviour from Stimpson. Molly described his behaviour as 'childish' and said she felt she was 'constantly treading on egg shells' around him. She is said to have told him: "It's just pathetic. I just feel really pressured with you at the moment if I'm honest."
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On a night out in Maidstone, Molly took Stimpson to one side and broke up with him - sparking an angry reaction. When Molly refused to take Stimpson back, he quickly "turned nasty". He started posting insulting Facebook messages and claimed she had been taking drugs five days after they had broken up. University friend Amelia Davis told the cameras: "Molly was distraught. She sent me screenshots of the online abuse. This was while we were not at university and I wanted to be there for her. I thought that was going to be the end of it and he was gong to leave her alone."
Stimpson continued his abuse over WhatsApp and Molly grew terrified he would turn up to her home. The documentary shows a series of texts sent from Molly to her friends, including 'I'm scared he might hurt me'. She also told friends: "He knows my parents are going away for two weeks."
Molly McLaren died after being stabbed 75 times on June 29, 2017 (No credit)Molly reported the posts to Facebook but nothing happened, so she went with her mother Joanna to North Kent Police Station. A police officer called Stimpson in their presence, put him on speakerphone and warned him to stop or face prosecution. When the officer said: "We wouldn't want Molly to come to the police station again about you, would we?", Stimpson replied: "Wouldn't we?"
Stimpson was spoken to by police for a second time on June 27, 2017. The following day, he turned up at a bar where she was with friends. Molly had told friends: "I am actually scared of what he might do, I'm scared he might hurt me." Molly and her mum printed pictures of Stimpson and handed them out to neighbours so they could keep a look out for him in case he turned up.
She had blocked him from all her social media accounts - Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram - and friends had done the same. But they did not know that sick Stimpson had recruited another girl to follow Molly on social media and report back to him with her every move.
Friends said Molly had become spooked when Stimpson turned up at a bar in Chatham dockside, where they had met for a celebratory dinner. Amy said: "He turned up with another girl. We said 'how strange, what are the odds?' We said to Molly 'what a shame that you had to be here to witness him going on another date but she said 'I'm not jealous and that's how I know I'm not in love with him anymore'."
Stimpson was found guilty in February last year and jailed for life, with a minimum term of 26 years (No credit)But the next morning, Stimpson followed Molly to her gym at Chatham Dockside Outlet. He turned up and began working out right next to her in silence. When she asked him why he wasn't at work he said 'it's none of your business'. Minutes later he left. Molly messaged her mum saying: "Mum he's turned up at the gym and come next to me", before phoning her. Her mother told her to go straight home. She was warned by friends not to communicate with her 'freak' ex and to 'stay away from him'. But moments after her chilling text, horror struck.
Molly left Pure Gym at 11.01am still on her phone and got into her Citroen C2. Stimpson had tailed her around the car park in his father's Peugeot. He parked in an adjacent aisle and went to Molly's car.
He then pulled open her driver's door and stabbed Molly at least 75 times. She lost consciousness within seconds, and died soon after. Her throat was completely cut through.
Molly's family have set up a charity in her name (No credit)Dog walker Benjamin Morton desperately tried to stop Stimpson in the middle of his frenzied attack. He said: "I was shouting 'stop killing her, stop f***ing killing her'. The attack just carried on. She was still trying to protect herself but it was obvious she was getting weaker.
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"No one else was coming so I thought I had to try and do something. I moved around to the driver's side where he was sitting, leaning across attacking her. I could see his leg was sticking out the door. I tried to slam the door on his leg to distract him, to stop him.
"I slammed the door on his leg and he noticed because he moved his leg inside the car. But then he just carried on. The door hadn't shut because his leg was in the way so I moved around and I grabbed his leg to see if I could pull him. His leg was covered in blood and my hands slipped off. At that point I stepped back and didn't know what else I could do."
Police bodycam footage showed officers arriving at the scene to find Stimpson covered in blood on June 29, 2017. Stimpson denied murder on the grounds of diminished responsibility but was found guilty in February last year and jailed for life, with a minimum term of 26 years.
Sentencing Stimpson, Judge Adele Williams, told him he may never be released and said: "This was a cruel, calculated and cowardly act. This was an act of wickedness."
"You took away Molly's life quite deliberately in the most vicious fashion. You were determined to punish her for ending the relationship with you. You were seeking revenge. She was 23 years old, beautiful and intelligent. Her family's grief and anguish is raw and apparent for everyone to see. You are a highly-dangerous young man and you will pose a very considerable risk to women for a very considerable period in the future."
In a statement, her family said there needs to be more awareness of online stalking, and praised have-a-go hero Ben, who tried to stop Stimpson. Molly's family have since set up a charity in her name, The Molly McLaren Foundation, to help people with eating disorders.
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