Laura Wray said Baby Reindeer’s real-life Martha being thrust into the spotlight has brought back the horrors of her own stalking ordeal.
And she now fears for her own safety after claiming she has been the target of abusive online comments by the woman who “outed” herself as the twisted Netflix series character. Laura, widow of former Labour MP Jimmy Wray, has watched aghast as her tormentor re-entered public life 22 years on since she secured an interim injunction against her in 2002.
She spoke out after the real-life Martha gave an interview to Piers Morgan on Thursday.
Laura claims problems started as she gave the woman, a lawyer, a two-week trial at her Glasgow law firm in 1997. She lasted a week before being fired for abuse. The woman, who we are choosing not to name, was even accused of reporting Laura to social services claiming falsely that Laura had hit her disabled child.
Laura said: “I hadn’t thought about her for years. I had forgotten so much of it. Every time someone says a comment, it triggers it again. Memories of things that she did. Some of her actions. It’s pretty distressing. Watching her last night [on Piers], how did I manage to cope with that for so long?
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“My partner and I are concerned about what she might do next. Is she going to come after me? She is posting things on Facebook accusing me of all sorts, and of being abusive. You don’t know where it will end.”
Laura is the widow of former Labour MP Jimmy Wray (Press Association)Laura believes she features indirectly in Baby Reindeer via a fictional newspaper article with the headline: Sick stalker targets barrister’s deaf child. And she urged the woman’s friends to help bring the circus to an end.
Laura added: “If she does have any friends, surely they should be trying to help her and calm things down. But she doesn’t want to calm things down. Part of her is really enjoying this. She even had a makeover for Piers Morgan.”
Baby Reindeer has become one of the most-watched Netflix shows of all time since it was released on April 11, with more than 22 million worldwide streams. Martha, played by Jessica Gunning, latches on to a struggling stand-up comedian Richard Gadd and is eventually jailed. Each episode begins with the words: “This is a true story.”
Laura said she was shocked by the fact Netflix “didn’t attempt to hide the stalker’s identity”. She added: “Even if she wasn’t mentally ill, if you are doing a show billed as a true story where the people are still alive and might be harmed, there is a duty of care. But she seems obviously so mentally ill. They haven’t done enough to protect her.”
Laura claimed the similarities between Martha and her stalker were striking. She said: “It was obvious to me and to a lot of other people that she was my stalker. They made her a lawyer. That detail didn’t have any bearing on the story. They could have made her a doctor, or an accountant.
Baby Reindeer was written by Richard Gadd about his experience with a stalker (Netflix)“The only thing they changed about her was her name. The lady Jessica who played Martha was excellent… she sounds like her, she looks like her. I mean, she had the same laugh, even the same slightly kind of funny waddling walk. Even when I briefly employed her, she would do the same sort of things.”
After being fired, the woman started bombarding Laura with phone calls and disparaging her to other solicitors. She then began targeting her family and friends. The “final straw” was when she reported Laura to social services.
Laura said: “She made some bizarre allegation that I was in my car driving and somehow managed to hit my son who was sitting in the back of the car in the child seat. Eventually it was all dropped but that’s when I went for an interim injunction. Thankfully, it worked. She didn’t defend it. We never heard any more from her.”
Laura says she was stalked by the woman claiming to be the 'real-life' Martha (Ed Miller/Netflix)At the end of Baby Reindeer, Martha pleads guilty to stalking Gadd and is jailed for nine months. But Laura’s stalker insisted she has never been charged with an offence, let alone been sent to prison.
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Branding the series a “work of fiction”, she said: “That is completely untrue, very, very defamatory to me, very career-damaging.”
And last night the woman denied the Facebook messages were abusive while claiming there was no interim injunction against her as the paperwork was messed up.
Netflix have not commented on any of the characters in the series.
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From a psychological perspective, stalking behaviours are an extreme response to unmet needs in childhood and most likely trauma.
"They may stem from unresolved psychological conflicts, such as feelings of inadequacy. Stalkers may project their desires, fantasies, or fears onto their victims, creating a distorted perception of the relationship. They may develop a fixation on the victim, believing that they are in a special relationship, even when it doesn’t exist.
"Additionally, the stalker may experience a sense of validation from knowing they are in their victim’s mind, even if the attention is unwanted. Being held in the mind of the object of their obsession reinforces their belief that they have a special relationship with the victim, contributing to the persistence.
"Perhaps a victim may have elicited strong emotions in the stalker. This may have further fuelled obsessive behaviour. From the stalker’s perspective, their actions may be driven by emotions, such as obsession, or a desire for control. They may believe that their behaviour is justified, particularly if they feel rejected by the victim."
In Baby Reindeer, the character of Martha, the stalker, is eventually convicted and jailed. Dr Goddard-Crawley says: “This distorted perception may prevent them from fully understanding the consequences of their actions. Being exposed and convicted of stalking can lead to feelings of humiliation. Legal proceedings and media coverage can magnify these feelings.”
In the Netflix drama, Martha’s character unravels as she loses her control over her victim. The psychologist adds: “Stalkers often engage in their behaviour to exert control over their victims. Being convicted can represent a loss of this control. They are also unlikely to understand they have done anything wrong, and may believe their behaviour is warranted - particularly if they feel rejected, betrayed, or wronged by the victim.
“They may struggle to understand the impact of their actions on the victim’s well-being and fail to recognise that their behaviour is causing harm. The stalker may interpret any response from their victim, whether positive or negative, as confirmation of the relationship.”
In Baby Reindeer, Martha sends her victim Donny thousands of emails, hundreds of hours of voicemails, and is continually contacting him in various ways. Viewers of the drama are led to believe that she cannot see how harmful her behaviour is for her victim. Dr Goddard-Crawley says: “A stalker’s lack of understanding of the harm they’re causing may reinforce their delusion that there is a genuine relationship. It may also contribute to their sense of justification for their behaviour.
“There is no single profile of a stalker but there are common factors that may contribute. Many stalkers have a history of failed or problematic interpersonal relationships. This may include difficulties forming and maintaining close relationships, and a pattern of rejection or betrayal by others.
“They often have low self-esteem and may seek validation through their relationships with others, leading to an intense fear of abandonment.” In Baby Reindeer, Martha constantly displays grandiose behaviour as she boasts about being a high-flying lawyer and says she is well-connected, when viewers see her spending all day in the bar where Donny works, nursing one free Diet Coke.
The psychologist continues: “Stalkers are more likely to have a history of mental health issues, such as depression, anxiety, personality disorders, or delusional disorders, which may impair their ability to form healthy relationships. Many stalkers also have a history of trauma or abuse. They often exhibit obsessive or fixated personality traits, characterised by an intense preoccupation with a particular person or relationship, which they may seek to maintain control over.”
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