Member

In cases where the stalker has been in a relationship with a victim, police must instead pursue an SPO, which is a significantly slower process. Officers must first gather evidence to support an SPO application and serve the offender with papers to notify them that an application has been made against him. The offender is then given 21 days to respond before a court date for an SPO hearing can be scheduled. Unlike DAPNs, which have a fixed 48-hour duration before they must be brought before a court and converted into a full DAPO, the SPO has no statutory timeframe for when an application must be heard. As a result, there is often little urgency to progress these cases, and delays are common due to scheduling difficulties between police, legal services and the magistrates’ court.