A 20-minute date with a Tinder stalker 'destroyed' years of my life

A lady who matched with stalker Christopher Harkins on Tinder says she confronted dying threats and abuse after spending simply 20 minutes in his firm, which “destroyed” her psychological well being for years.

Speaking for the primary time about happening a date with the infamous cheater and rapist in 2018, Nadia stated the abuse started when she ended their date early due to “red flags”.

A sports activities therapeutic massage therapist is amongst half a dozen ladies who’ve shared their harrowing and infrequently weird experiences with one in every of Scotland's most well-known romance swindlers. New BBC Disclosure podcast: Matching with a stalker,

A BBC investigation revealed that in 2012 alone, 11 ladies had tried to report Harkins to Police Scotland.

Despite allegations of bodily assaults, fraud, threats and abuse, Harkins was not investigated by police till late 2019.

Police Scotland stated that earlier reviews had been “mainly around the financial situation” and that they had been all handled in isolation – a state of affairs it hoped would “not be repeated”.

Before being jailed in 2024, Harkins spent nearly a decade finishing up crimes towards ladies he met on-line in Scotland and London.

Nadia believes that he ought to have stopped earlier.

She is one in every of various victims who’ve known as on Police Scotland to apologize to those that tried to report her.

Nadia, now 34, and Harkins, now 38, matched on Tinder seven years in the past.

They chatted over messages and after a number of weeks, they determined to exit for dinner in Glasgow.

For Nadia, the primary pink flag got here when she arrived to gather Harkins from his flat in Cumbernauld.

He opened the door carrying jogging trousers and a vest and stated he was too drained to exit. He urged they cease by his flat and order takeaway.

“This is where it gets weird,” Nadia stated.

“I walked in. The place was empty. There was no furniture. The living room was completely empty except for a TV on a few boxes.”

Harkins presents to make Nadia vodka. She says that when she refused to drink alcohol and drank Diet Coke for herself, the environment modified.

“It seemed as if he had some inner manly anger,” he stated.

“He looked at me like, 'Who do you think you are? Why are you pouring drinks on yourself?'

“I used to be a little bit nervous and I poured it straight over the glass. As I turned, I spilled the Diet Coke.

“There was madness in his eyes. He said something like, 'You're so clumsy, you don't respect my property. You're a clown.'

“I bear in mind considering, 'Are you for actual?' It was laminate flooring.

“I said, 'Look, I'm just going to leave.' And he said, he pointed to the door and swore.

Nadia says: “I was scared. I thought he was going to follow me. I jumped in my car, I closed the doors and that was it.

“I thought it ended there, but it got even worse.

“You wouldn't believe how much a 20-minute conversation with this guy affected my life.”

This rejection appears to have been a big trigger for Harkins, who began inundating Nadia with calls and messages as soon as she left.

The first read: “How dare someone like you skip a date with me?”

As things escalated over the next few hours, Nadia says Harkins threatened to attack her house with a “petrol bomb”, kill her, and attack her father.

He also hurled insults at her regarding her appearance.

This had a devastating effect on Nadia's self-esteem – something she had worked hard to restore after going through a difficult period in her life.

“I got messages saying I was a fat cow,” she said.

“I was a catfish. I looked like a pig. I had too much make-up on. This continued all night. I cried so much I got a headache. Even at six in the morning he was abusing me.

“I remember feeling ashamed of myself when I looked in the mirror.

“He knew I had lost weight and was going to the gym.

“When I thought I was doing my best he really took it away from me.”

The day after their date, Nadia reported the threats and abuse to Police Scotland. They also played a recording of a phone call from Harkins.

In this he can be heard saying that he will go to his father's house, drag him out and kick him.

“I was told nothing could be done for me,” Nadia stated.

“He stated there was no direct risk – each time he would he would do one thing to immediately name them again.

“Nobody took any statements. They didn't want to help me. I was screaming from the rooftops, 'I can't take this, you don't know what he's capable of, he's threatening me.'

Nadia said, “If they’d executed one thing then, much more might have been executed for the ladies who adopted me.”

Even after the date ended, Harkins continued his abuse.

Nadia blocked his number but even after more than a year, he was still harassing her by contacting people she knew on social media.

She said: “The psychological state he put me in, if I didn't have my daughter, I’d have ended my life.”

Harkins is currently serving a 12-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to 19 crimes against 10 women, including physical and sexual violence.

He was initially accused of threatening and abusive behavior towards Nadia and threatening her family.

As part of a plea-deal, a plea of ​​not guilty to that charge was accepted – and Harkins pleaded guilty to stealing more than £214,000 from women by running holiday scams, bogus investment schemes and using their identities to take out bank loans.

What the Police Scotland investigation ultimately revealed was that a woman was turning to the media, desperate to expose Harkins and protect others.

Police also turned him away when Harkins scammed him out of £3,247 for fake holiday pay.

His story was published in October 2019.

The extent of Harkins' crimes soon became clear and the police began a formal investigation.

Nadia and others who made the historic report were met again and this time asked to give statements.

Harkins faces trial in 2024.

As Nadia read about the testimony of a woman who Harkins had raped, she had a disgusting realization – this was two months after her date with him.

“That lassie completely might have been saved,” she said.

“She could have been arrested and she would never have interacted with him.

“Disgusting. That's all I can say about it. It's disgusting.”

Our investigation has uncovered an alleged fraud by Harkins of approximately £70,000.

The BBC understands he targeted at least 30 women.

We wrote to Harkins in prison to ask about these allegations. He did not give any answer.

DCI Lindsay Laird led the Police Scotland investigation into Harkins.

He said it was difficult to say why the report was not investigated earlier.

“Each one was reported at totally different phases, in order that they weren't all reported without delay, they had been reported to totally different divisions throughout Police Scotland,” he said.

“There was never any report of physical or sexual abuse made to the police at that time.

“It was mainly around the financial situation, when they are treated in isolation, they are taken up as civil enquiries.

“I believe it's secure to say that there was a large evolution in policing for the reason that preliminary reviews got here out.”

Several women have told the BBC that they reported physical attacks and sexual abuse in the years before the police investigation.

Asked whether Police Scotland would apologize to victims who tried to report Harkins, DCI Laird said: “I think that's a very difficult question to answer.

“I think based on the investigation so far they have got a successful court outcome.

“With every part we've executed since then, I’ll say that I hope that have won’t ever be repeated.”

In response to those comments, Nadia said: “I do know they tried actually exhausting after they truly determined to do one thing about it, however they need to have executed one thing sooner.

“He's been doing this for years. This could have been avoided. They should apologize. They could have stopped him.”

Harkins was jailed final yr, almost 5 years after his first arrest. He was convicted on the testimony of 10 ladies.

Nadia obtained a name to tell her concerning the outcomes.

“Those women have achieved more than you think,” she stated.

“Now all these other people who might have met him in the future don't have to. What he did was amazing – huge.”

The mom of two has managed to rebuild her life and confidence however the expertise has left its mark.

“I'm much better now,” she stated.

“I am completely different and much more confident. I am not afraid to speak up and I will never ignore red flags.”