Emily Maitlis stalker is jailed for a further nine months over letters

Emily Maitlis’ stalker who bombarded her with letters from prison declaring his ‘unrequited love’ is jailed for a further nine months after he tried to write to the BBC presenter’s mother

• Edward Vines, 52, told a court he will now halt writing letters to Emily Maitlis
• Comes after he was jailed for his ‘outpourings of affection’ in repeated letters

A stalker who bombarded Emily Maitlis with creepy letters from prison in which he declared his ‘unrequited love’ for her has been jailed for a further nine months after trying to also write to the presenter’s mother.

Edward Vines, 52, told a court he would now refrain from writing letters to the former Newsnight host following a 27-year ‘fixation’ which saw him handed an eight-year prison sentence.

He was sentenced in September last year after writing a series of letters from HMP Nottingham declaring his ‘unrequited love’ with ‘outpourings of affection’ for her.

Vines had insisted that he would continue penning letters to Maitlis until she spoke to him ‘about her behaviour in 1990’ – when he claimed ‘she snubbed him at Cambridge University’.

A court heard that, while he was awaiting sentence for breaching his restraining order 20 times, Vines tried to write to Maitlis’ mother Marian between July and August last year.

A stalker who bombarded Emily Maitlis (pictured) with creepy letter from prison in which he declared his ‘unrequited love’ for her has been jailed for a further nine months

Edward Vines, 52, told a court he would now halt writing letters to the former Newsnight presenter

But the letter was intercepted by prison staff and he was further convicted before receiving an eight-year prison sentence.

Vines admitted attempting to breach his restraining order and was handed a concurrent jail sentence of nine-and-a-half months at Nottingham Crown Court.

Representing himself in court today, Vines apologised to Maitlis for the first time and vowed to now stop sending her letters.

He said: ‘I would merely like to say that since July when I posted the letter after a rather difficult time in court, I feel I have made some progress on this matter.

‘I would like to apologise and to say that that was the last letter I will be sending and don’t intend to repeat these actions. I hope that this satisfies you My Honour that we can put this matter behind us.

‘I regret and accept responsibility that I have caused her distressed over the years and this shows my progress.’

Judge Mark Watson said he would not extend the jail term as he accepted the apology and pointed out it was the first time Vines had shown remorse. 

A lifelong restraining order banning contact with Maitlis or her mother still remains in place.

Maitlis pictured attending the GQ Men of the Year Awards in September 2018 at the Tate Modern in London

Representing himself in court today, Vines apologised to Maitlis for the first time and vowed to now stop sending her letters

Passing sentence, Judge Watson added: ‘The matter is that the letter was sent by you very close to the date of your sentencing and sent by you in intense turmoil. The letter is again an outpouring of injustice of what you thought then was your right to reach out.

‘You made it clear in your letter you would continue in your quest to get justice at their [Emily and her family’s] expense. I accept that the views were genuinely held by you at the time.

‘I recognise that this had been a product of your mental health and I will take this into consideration. It is the sheer persistence of breaching your court order, with this being more than the 20th occasion that makes this breach very serious.

‘But this was an attempt and no actual harm was caused by you.

‘Although there is no evidence of harm shown from the victim, I need to think about the harm that could have been caused. This is the first time in your offending that you have accepted responsibility, and this is significant progress from September and I accept your apology given.

‘Because of this change in attitude I do not intend to increase the sentence so the sentence of nine and a half months will run concurrently to the September sentencing and the restraining order I made on the last case will continue to run.

‘I hope this is the last time we meet.’

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