A PSYCHOLOGIST who works with people convicted of stalking is “frustrated” at the lack of money which prevents him from treating offenders.

Dr Frank Farnham, the head of the National Stalking Clinic at Barnet, Enfield and Haringey Mental Health Trust, wants people to start taking the crime and its consequences more seriously.

He is speaking up as part of National Stalking Awareness Week (18-24 April).

The clinic, in St. Ann's Hospital, Seven Sisters, was set up in 2012 to set up a treatment plan for those prosecuted of the crime.

Dr Farnham said: “Because of funding issues, it is now difficult to provide treatment and instead we have to refer them on.

“We have always struggled to get central funding and have had to rely on individual commissions, which when you have to pay for staff and facilities is very difficult.

“It is frustrating, because what we need to be doing is piloting treatment programmes, and if we can’t do that it trickles down and provides even more stress on the victims we are trying to protect.

“Stalking charities advocate treatment for offenders as important, but the health department see it as a criminal issue, and vice versa – we get passed around.

“We are running along as a consultation and liaison service and we are not in immediate jeopardy, but it is an NHS service, and I am a doctor – we want to treat people.”

He claims as many as one in ten women and one in 20 men will be victims of stalking.

Information revealed this week through a Freedom of Information request shows only one per cent of people accused of stalking are convicted.

Dr. Farnham added: “The figures demonstrate problems all along the route, from reporting it onwards.

“This is not behaviour people have to put up with, and while we are doing better in dealing with it, there is a long way to go.

“We have to try and stop the underlying innuendo that stalking is not a serious offence and somehow the victims are to blame, the patchy nature of stalking laws often do not help, and even with the best laws, education is crucial.

“Like any condition, having someone like Lily Allen draw attention to it is crucial, but it is not just a celebrity problem.”

He said any victim of stalking should retain any evidence – including any letters or texts they are sent  - and should report it quickly, saying on average people wait three months before reporting stalking to the police.