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dress yoga pants [Music] our episodes deal with serious and often distressing incidents if you feel at
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anytime you need support please contact your local crisis center for suggested phone numbers for confidential support
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please see the show notes for this episode on your app or on our website 18 year old Paige Rowland to work that
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the Asda supermarket England office of Scotland the Asda store was open 24 hours a day seven days
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a week and was a common first job for local teenagers when Paige wasn't pursuing her interests in reading
00:02:07
writing and drawing she worked a few shifts a week at the supermarket as a shelf stocker there was nothing
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interesting or remarkable about the job most days were like every other but her colleagues were nice and had decent
00:02:21
benefits and it came with a generous staff discount on October 3 2014 Paige was working her regular shift that
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as though she was in the breakfast aisle tasked with arranging cereal boxes neatly in replacing stock as she stood
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up from fixing the boxes on the bottom shelf something hard hit the back of her head Paige collapsed the tinkering sound
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of shattering glass echoed down the aisle colleagues rushed to her aid Paige was on the floor blood pooled from a
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gaping wound in the back of her head a bakery chef found tails to press against the wound to stem the gush initial
00:03:02
considerations that Paige had accidentally hit her head on a shelf above were quickly dismissed broken
00:03:08
glass was all around her but none of the shelves held glass items a customer approached the supermarket
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manager having witnessed what happened they explained that a man had approached Paige from behind brandishing a wine
00:03:23
bottle he hit her and calmly walked away CCTV footage showed the assailant to be
00:03:31
a dark-haired male in his 20s of average height and slim build he was dressed like a runner wearing a light jumper
00:03:38
shorts with leggings underneath and black rimmed glasses he was carrying a rucksack and a blue and green tubular
00:03:45
bag local news picked up the story and circulated a description of the wanted men calling the attack on the teenager a
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mystery perhaps a random strike by Mad Men but it wasn't random the attacker had travelled nearly 500 miles from
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London specifically to smash in the skull of Paige Rowland [Music] richard britain of bedford united
00:04:40
kingdom had a genuine claim to fame before he turned 20 did won the TV quiz show count them crown a series 55
00:04:48
champion in 2006 Richards triumph in the words and numbers gameshow came after winning all eight of his hate games
00:04:57
making him one of the show's coveted okto jams his prizes included a 20 volume dictionary and a flashy trophy it
00:05:05
took pride of place on his shelf beside a framed photograph of him with countdown presenters des Lynam and Carol
00:05:11
Vorderman Richard would tell people later that he thought des Lynam didn't like him very much
00:05:17
because Richard didn't smile enough during the competition Richard didn't get along with people he always knew he
00:05:26
was different believing he was far more intelligent than others his ego caused conflict with employers
00:05:32
and he never lasted in a job for more than two months Richard would say I'm quite good at getting jobs but I'm no
00:05:40
good at staying in them the countdown win was proof to Richard of his superior intellect it also came with a small
00:05:49
measure of Fame people started to recognize him talk to him and perhaps for the first time in Richard's life
00:05:56
respect him less than a month after winning countdown Richard went on another gameshow brain teaser he won and
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took home 1,500 pounds there was no doubt quizzes where Richard's thing and he reveled in his newfound celebrity
00:06:12
status anyone who met Richard would very quickly hear about his countdown win with the young man going into minut
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detail about his intellectual prowess he also made a youtube video in which he surrounded himself with countdown
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memorabilia and spoke straight to the camera my name's Richard Britten and on the
00:06:33
countdown champion if you're a British viewer you probably immediately recognized me as the winner of series 55
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if you're not a British viewer I can tell you a bit about countdown it's probably one of the most celebrated game
00:06:46
shows in British history and I've won a series of it he picked up a publicity photo of himself and the hosts and went
00:06:55
on to say that's Carol Vorderman she has been rated the sexiest woman in the UK I
00:07:02
know a lot of you want me to talk about all the rumors about dressing-room encounters on may or may not have had
00:07:08
with Carol Vorderman Richard gave the camera wink following his gameshow wins Richard obsessively searched for
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mentions of himself online many comments he found were harsh he was called a disappointment boring and a misery guts
00:07:26
his YouTube bragging was seen as a joke the agent of countdown co-host Carol Vorderman provided a public statement
00:07:34
stating rumors of dressing-room shenanigans between her client and Richard were ludicrous as the public
00:07:42
laughed at him Richard got vigorously defensive he boasted of his intellect pointing out that he had consistently
00:07:49
offered eight letter words while also being very good at the numbers he would keep on dominating their discussions
00:07:56
until he got an apology from his detractors Richards gameshow victories in the accompanying fame gave him the
00:08:06
confidence to apply to the University of Cambridge somewhere he considered a place of esteemed learning he was
00:08:13
nervous when he was accepted feeling that although his social skills had improved he wasn't sure his
00:08:19
communication skills were ready for somewhere like Cambridge as he waited for his time at Cambridge to begin
00:08:26
Richard turned his hand to gambling hoping this would be a way of making money without having to work rather than
00:08:33
games of chance Richard fancied himself as a stock market whiz and would place bets with
00:08:39
bookies on whether the financial time stock exchange would rise or fall in the next 15 minutes for a while he won
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convinced his skill and intelligence allowed him to predict financial movements with accuracy but just a week
00:08:53
before starting at Cambridge he lost everything there was never a time Richard had felt more successful and
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happier than when he was rising through the ranks of TV game shows so in 2008 he
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entered the countdown championship of Champions hoping to earn back his lost fame and fortune but it was clear
00:09:14
Richard had lost his spark and lacked confidence during the championship he put in a miserable performance he lost
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with a lower score in the competition he humiliated himself offering up several non-existent words culminating in the
00:09:30
nonsensical game to seek the word became an in-joke in countdown circles four years afterwards
00:09:42
Richard dropped out of Cambridge soon after always a keen camper and hiker he began living a nomadic existence
00:09:49
travelling throughout the UK in Europe he slept in tents and hostels sometimes traveling alone sometimes with other
00:09:57
people he spent the next few years drifting between learning institutions and jobs but he never quite fit in
00:10:06
anywhere hours days even weeks were spent obsessively gaming he also began to write prolifically first for his own
00:10:15
pleasure but then for freelance sites he earned three pounds an hour for transcription translation and writing
00:10:22
articles the work was sporadic and dull and mostly involved rewriting existing articles changing them just enough to
00:10:30
avoid being detected for plagiarism in August 2011 Richard photo was time for him to retry
00:10:38
formal education he enrolled as a mature aged history student at Greenwich University in England for the first time
00:10:46
in many years Richard found ear was able to focus on his studies he made a few friends who enjoyed pastimes like poker
00:10:53
monopoly Scrabble and to risk all games at which Richard excelled they respected
00:11:00
him for being a countdown champion especially when they entered pub quizzes which Richard took far more seriously
00:11:06
than most people one day in September 2012 Richard took a seat at the counter of the Student Union
00:11:15
bar bar latitude at age 25 he was slightly older than his fellow students many of whom had come to think his
00:11:23
manner was somewhat odd he was considered a loner who spent a lot of time with books on his computer or in
00:11:30
his own little world bar latitude was a typical student drinking hole posting events such as open mic nights comedy
00:11:39
and student society fundraisers it had colorful eclectic decor with games and pool tables for entertainment as Richard
00:11:49
took a seat the barmaid smiled at him Richard was immediately besotted he felt there was something incredibly genuine
00:11:57
about her greeting she was enchanting and reminded Richard of Princess Leia in Star Wars he soon learned of the bar
00:12:06
maids name was Ella it wasn't just her beauty that drew Richard he was used to the fake and forced smiles of others
00:12:15
many without eye contact yet Ella's smile was genuine warm and unforced Richard felt her smile was especially
00:12:23
wide when directed at him twenty-one-year-old elegy ran who is living student life to the fullest
00:12:32
studying drama and politics she was captain of her netball team enjoyed skiing and campaigned for the
00:12:38
Student Association earlier that year she had volunteered as a London ambassador welcoming people from around
00:12:46
the world to the city on behalf of the mayor's office her outgoing and approachable personality made her
00:12:52
perfectly suited to a job in the cafe bar of the University the job came with its perks discounts at student union
00:13:00
outlets and reasonably flexible working hours as Ella worked a shift at the bar in
00:13:07
September 2012 a slightly older student came in he was thin and unremarkable looking with dark rimmed glasses and a
00:13:15
bit of stubble Ella served him a drink with her customary friendly smile but paid him no more attention than anyone
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else he however kept staring at her as she moved around pulling pints and pouring drinks she thought he seemed a
00:13:31
bit odd but harmless after meeting Ella Richard began going to the bar more frequently Ella didn't
00:13:42
know that the quiet pale older student had watched her come and go worked out the times of his shifts and only ever
00:13:50
came in when she was on duty sometimes when he came in he would just sit and stare at her for that bit too
00:13:56
long making the hairs on the back of her neck prickle she told herself she was overreacting as soon as he had the
00:14:05
opportunity Richard Todd eller of his claim to fame being crowned winner of the county art game shadow though he
00:14:11
thought she had probably recognized him and was being coy when the bar ran a pop
00:14:17
quiz a couple of weeks after they met Richard made sure he and Dale over on the same team they did well and Ella was
00:14:24
mildly surprised to receive a hug from the man she barely knew she accepted Richards friend request on facebook
00:14:31
which wasn't unusual for her regular customers and fellow students he gave her a kiss on the cheek when he left for
00:14:39
that day overjoyed that their relationship had taken a new step Richard had already found Ella's Twitter
00:14:51
feed she was a prolific tweeter and Richard read through them all there was some in particular he thought women for
00:14:58
him specifically just told me baby and we'll be all right you know he's the one when your heart beats a bit faster he
00:15:08
walked into my life and it's beautiful he believed she was letting him know how she felt about him through her Twitter
00:15:15
feed Richard wanted to impress our the way he knew best but winning a televised per game show but even better this timer
00:15:27
would be a team effort which she could be part of the BBC University challenge Richard didn't know if Ella would be of
00:15:35
much use on the team but he was happy to carry her if it meant spending time together
00:15:41
the next time he was at the bar he casually invited LR onto the BBC University Challenge team he was putting
00:15:48
together she was surprised than a little amused at the invitation I don't know if
00:15:54
I'm brainy enough rich she said to which Richard required we need Beauty as well
00:16:00
as brains he had brought along entry forms that needed to be filled out by individual team members which has shoved
00:16:08
at her she took them and promised to fill them out as soon as she had time Richard told her she needed to supply
00:16:15
photograph with the application and she told him to go ahead and choose one for her since she was busy that evening
00:16:22
Richard scrolled through her Facebook photos looking for the perfect picture to submit to the TV show happy to have
00:16:29
an excuse to private message her he started a chat maybe this one he asked Ella couldn't see the photo Richard was
00:16:38
referring to what photo is it she replied you're wearing a low-cut black lace trimmed top on your pink lips and
00:16:48
mischievous smile is playing Ella replied and if you think I look smart enough Richard then teased they she had
00:17:00
not posted any photos of herself in the glasses she sometimes wore he knew there
00:17:05
were no photos on Facebook with her wearing them because he had looked at every single one when not on the bar
00:17:15
while Stella was working Richard spent the remainder of his time honing his general knowledge determined to impress
00:17:22
Ella and get the team on TV he revised intensively during breaks in his revision he would go through well as
00:17:29
Facebook liking and commenting on photos and posts from years back every time he
00:17:35
visited her page he would have something to say until one day he logged on and found himself locked they are tavella's
00:17:42
account unfriended shocked and upset Richard confronted Ella at the bar and asked war she said you're kind of
00:17:53
freaking me out you're a good guy but you're being far too forward Richard was gutted but he asked whether
00:18:02
she was still going to be in his team auditioning for the University challenge she told him yes and handed him her
00:18:09
completed entry forms but Ella said clearly only as a friend nothing more Richard took a deep breath it was Now or
00:18:20
Never he decided he had to tell Ella he's Princess Leia how he truly felt he confessed he was infatuated with her
00:18:28
that he loved her and that she was the only one for him he revealed he had been in love with her from the moment they
00:18:35
met and felt they were destined to be together his declaration didn't have the desired
00:18:45
effect rather than responding in kind Ella pulled out of the team for the baby say University challenge brokenhearted
00:18:54
Richard found a replacement but they failed the audition and never got to be on TV
00:18:59
his dream of winning the game show with Ella by side impressed by his brilliance
00:19:05
was shattered Richard's behavior grew increasingly erratic over the following weeks he picked fights with his friends
00:19:15
doing petty things like snatching away his Scrabble board in the middle of a game he was still gambling and his
00:19:22
drinking became troublesome often sculling down two bottles of wine and then heading out to a club if the
00:19:29
bouncers wouldn't let him in he would climb the fence and start fights he no longer had access to Ella's Facebook but
00:19:37
there was still her Twitter and Instagram the bubbly outgoing Ella was prolific on
00:19:43
social media and Richard scrolled through her timelines photos and stories doing this he came across a tweet she
00:19:51
once posted that said when I say I'm done I mean fight for me Richard believed the tweet was meant for
00:19:59
him and was prepared to accept her challenge Richard made sure to be at the bar for every single one of Ella's
00:20:08
shifts he stayed for the duration just sitting and staring in his mind she was Princess Leia to HIDs han Solo
00:20:17
the fantasy was so strong he could hear the music of Star Wars running through his head
00:20:23
eventually Ella swapped jobs with colleagues so that she could work in the kitchen away from Richards unwavering
00:20:30
gaze Ella did what she could to avoid him but she could never shake the feeling he was always around watching
00:20:40
one day in December Richards stopped her and tried to speak to her as she made her excuses to get away he said I just
00:20:48
wanted to wish you a happy Christmas later that day he a Twitter feed and was ecstatic to say
00:20:55
she posted just wanted to say that I love you he wasn't tagged in it but Richard
00:21:02
believed she echoed his words just wanted to so he would know her tweet was directed at him on Valentine's Day he
00:21:11
sent a cartellis address that he lifted from her University Challenge application form when she received the
00:21:19
card ella froze realizing Richard now knew where she lived thank you for listening we'll be
00:21:38
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00:24:37
making Ella so uncomfortable that she complained to the University authorities they made Richards sign a contract
00:24:44
saying he would stop harassing her but they stopped short of enforcing any measures that would physically protect
00:24:49
her Ella took to Twitter to express her frustration at the lack of action quote not happy that he's going to be led back
00:24:58
into the Student Union where I work I just want it to stop she ended the tweet with an emoticon a colon and a slash
00:25:07
used to express mixed emotions to Richard that emoticon meant that she didn't actually mean what she wrote but
00:25:15
the contract he signed meant he couldn't see her as often as he used to so he started to call her most of the time she
00:25:24
wouldn't answer so we'd leave her messages in one message he mentioned that it had been love at first sight
00:25:31
that same day ella tweeted a meme that said you had me at hello he was excited thinking she was sending him more coded
00:25:41
messages accepting his love sometimes when he called her Richard played songs down the line that expressed how he felt
00:25:50
the Beatles were a particular favorite of Richards he played their song I want to hold your hand so Ella would know his
00:25:58
intentions were romantic and he was going to woo her when he hung up he played more Beatles to himself
00:26:06
they told him she loves you yeah yeah yeah she loves you yeah yeah yeah she loves you yeah yeah
00:26:20
yeah ella was getting better at avoiding rigid that one point she'd successfully
00:26:28
avoided him for a weight he was left scrolling through her Twitter and Instagram feeds and then he saw it but
00:26:35
wait something's got your attention and it's not me she hadn't mentioned him or tagged him in it but Richard believed
00:26:46
ella was speaking to him to ella she was just sharing retweeting and posting statuses reflective of her own life and
00:26:55
thoughts her mind was far from Richard she had no clue he was obsessively scanning everything she posted and
00:27:02
deluding himself that everything she wrote online was directed to him he continued to call and send her love
00:27:10
letters through the post rose themed cards containing poetry and drawings he kept playing songs to let her know how
00:27:17
he felt he played another British rock band the police every breath you take he recorded it to her voicemail so she
00:27:26
would be able to play it back and think of him every breath you take every move you make every bond you break every step
00:27:36
you take I'll be watching you Ella had initially been reluctant to go to the police about Richard as she felt
00:27:48
sorry for him the Richards behavior was increasingly unhinged and she began to suspect he was
00:27:54
dangerous she was no longer simply annoyed she was slowly becoming terrified she began to have panic
00:28:02
attacks whenever she saw him and sometimes she would scream at him to leave her alone when letters kept
00:28:10
arriving at her home she decided to go to the police although stalking had been a crime in the UK since 2012 the police
00:28:18
advised their life that such cases were difficult to prove let alone prosecute Richard hadn't harmed her there was
00:28:26
little they could do they told her Ella assumed the police would at least pay Richard a visit to caution him but she
00:28:34
was devastated to discover the only action they took was to talk to the university the university banned Richard
00:28:41
from the Student Union Building meaning he couldn't enter the bar where she worked or sit outside waiting until she
00:28:47
finished her shift soon after Ella graduated with a bachelor's degree in politics and drama she moved back to her
00:28:59
parents to take up a job in Exeter a combination of the report to the police and the distance between them seemed to
00:29:06
work Richard backed off and Ella was almost able to go back to a normal life little
00:29:12
by little as the months wore on she became less fearful that Richard had not forgotten Ella he spiraled into episodes
00:29:22
of alcohol abuse on a roller coaster of highs and lows when he was high he would
00:29:27
lift weights working out to booming music that motivated him to pursue his goals during the lows he would get blind
00:29:35
a drunk abused friends and occasionally get into fights in October 2013 Greenwich University put on the
00:29:44
graduation ceremony for Ella's class Richard wrestled with himself he knew she didn't want him there he knew that a
00:29:53
visit to the police meant that perhaps she was serious when she said she didn't want to see him but Richard couldn't
00:30:00
keep himself away Ella hadn't seen Richard for almost six months but there he suddenly was at the ceremony sitting
00:30:11
directly in front of her she tried to swap places with the person next to her putting as much distance between him and
00:30:18
herself as possible Richard saw this and reflected on his behaviour so far for the first time
00:30:25
Richard admitted to himself that he wasn't just an admirer he was a stalker Richard mulled over this revelation yes
00:30:35
he was a stalker but he's stalking came from a place of love he was a benevolent
00:30:40
stalker he convinced himself benevolent stalking was different to malevolence talking he believed the Lada was
00:30:49
intended to cause harm or induce fear that the former was purely an expression of affection
00:30:55
once again the lyrics of the beta was spoke to him I'll get you I'll get you in the end yes I will I'll get you in
00:31:05
the end well there's gonna be a time when I'm gonna change your mind so you might as well resign yourself to me
00:31:16
[Music] after the graduation ceremony Richard recommenced calling Ella and leaving messages on her voicemail he
00:31:25
sent her a Valentine's Day card you know he drew her as a fairytale character he
00:31:31
proposed to her there was imagery of LR and Richard and their two fictional children holding
00:31:37
hands he wrote a poem in fluorescent gel pens and put their initials in a heart Ella had been careful not to leave any
00:31:46
hints about where she was living in Exeter and made sure everyone knew not to tell Richard but he was able to find
00:31:53
her address by tracking down her mother on the electoral roll Ella panicked and once again went to the police again they
00:32:03
didn't seem to take her situation seriously and she left in tears however a policewoman did visit Richard
00:32:10
and told him to stay away but Richard was now focused on a new project to win over Ella he was going to write a novel
00:32:20
a fairy tale a beautiful homage to their love his heroine had to be named after his muse but he turned her surname into
00:32:29
an anagram her name was Ella tundra and she was the protagonist of his life work
00:32:35
his opus the book he was going to call the world rose and so started one of the happiest periods of Richard's life even
00:32:49
though he couldn't see Ella in a way she was with him every day as he wrote his masterpiece Richard neglected his
00:32:56
studies barely ate and to listen to The Beatles religiously unable to hold down a job Richard started gambling again it
00:33:08
didn't go well so he took on a job at a souvenir store in Westminster selling fridge magnets to
00:33:13
tourists he liked his manager who was gruff but pleasant after two days he thought he might have found a job he
00:33:21
could stick with the other workers warned him to wait until he met the business owner before he decided that
00:33:27
he'd found his forever career Richard met Gina on the third day and hated her on sight
00:33:34
she was shoddy and unreasonable and found fault in everything he did she confused him with contradictory messages
00:33:41
such as he must never leave his post but if he ran out of stock he must go into the storeroom and replace it immediately
00:33:50
when a customer asked for a magnet design that had sold out Richard ran to the storeroom to check for replacements
00:33:57
Gina followed him in to scream at him for leaving his post frustrated he threw a box of magnets at her head told her to
00:34:05
[ __ ] off and quit he told himself he had done a service to all the faceless people who would work for her in the
00:34:13
future she would think twice about ever being that unreasonable again after that he
00:34:20
he worked for a landscape gardener he paid ten pounds Pirela Richard liked the boss Lawrence even
00:34:27
though he seemed constantly stoned but when Richard opened up about being countdown champion Lawrence didn't call
00:34:34
him for any further work that job was followed by a stint as a leaflet distributor Richard enjoyed the exercise
00:34:43
but not the paltry wage of five pounds per hour the jobs weren't working out so in July Richard decided to leave London
00:34:53
to be a wandering Nomad for the summer he bought a tent for ten pounds and traveled with his laptop and of little
00:35:00
else he took a train 50 miles southeast the Faversham where he met with a friend
00:35:05
the pair walked three hours to Whitstable a seaside town on the northern coast of Kent from there
00:35:13
Richard just walked exploring the southeastern parts of England he had no mattress
00:35:20
so finding fields and parks with ideal grass the pidgeys tent was a priority he also needed places that were just the
00:35:27
right balance between being not too obvious but not so remoteness to be dangerous one night he was woken by
00:35:34
someone unzipping his tent the person ran away when he started shouting but they stole his shoes creeped out he
00:35:42
packed up his tent and started wandering shoeless in the middle of the night until he met some homeless people who
00:35:49
told him where he could pitch his tent safely when he slept on private land or in a public park he had to ensure he
00:35:57
woke early before anyone would discover him and tell him to move on but worse caught the poise when he got to
00:36:04
Canterbury he traded his tent for a youth hostel and spent his days at a pub feverishly writing editing and polishing
00:36:11
his novel the world rose he continued wandering further south and got into a pattern of two nights camping followed
00:36:20
by one night in accommodation like a hostel or a cheap bed-and-breakfast he made it to Folkston on the south
00:36:27
coast where he could sleep on the beach write his book and to listen to music on
00:36:31
his laptop he had discovered Moby and to listen to his albums on repeat which had been left
00:36:40
England and flew to Belgium where his mother lived his book was all but finished so he started an online blog he
00:36:49
wrote of his travels his wanderings and adventures he enjoyed the rambling flow of thoughts that could be poured out on
00:36:55
a blog as opposed to the structured discipline of writing fiction he called it Richard Britain's blog musings from
00:37:03
the author and countdown champion his novel the world rose was 60,000 words believing he had written a best-seller
00:37:13
Richard tried to get an agent interested in it but they told him and needed to be
00:37:17
at least 70,000 words to meet the industry standard Richard pointed out the 60,000 words put him in the company
00:37:24
of great authors HG Wells Mark Twain Ernest Hemingway Charles Dickens and F scott Fitzgerald all who had written
00:37:33
classics that were shorter than the world rose the agents weren't convinced unwilling to bend to their demands
00:37:42
Richard joined Wattpad a site where people could upload their writing to be read and critiqued by millions of users
00:37:49
it was mostly used for those who wanted to share fanfiction for self publishers testing the water for a new story
00:37:57
Richard felt his writing was far superior than any other content on the platform but he thought it would be a
00:38:03
good way to bring attention to his work and prove its worth the publishers so he
00:38:08
uploaded the prologue for the world grows with a note saying that if anyone wanted the rest of the book they had the
00:38:14
boy in his blurb he called his book an epic fairytale romance set in a semi-fictional ancient world and claimed
00:38:26
that it was a stunningly original piece of literature the central character was already under Beauty the rose of the
00:38:33
world Richard claimed critics had compared his work to Dickens Shakespeare rolling fast
00:38:39
and Roberts finally he wrote I shall be relentless in promoting my work for the neck
00:38:46
several months annoy intend to try some novel techniques so don't be surprised if you see me in the news what pad at
00:38:56
its best can be a wonderful supportive community of writers sharing their work encouraging each other providing
00:39:03
thoughtful useful critique or it can be a cesspool of wannabe writers massive egos bolstered by sockpuppet accounts
00:39:11
jealousy and people trolling for reactions soon after Richard had uploaded his prologue to the world grows he was
00:39:20
pleased to note that it had garnered a healthy number of downloads some people stated that they liked it and provided
00:39:26
positive feedback others offered critiques Richard would respond to them believing
00:39:33
less intelligent people didn't understand the themes and nuances of his work perhaps you could be more specific
00:39:40
and let us know which words you didn't understand he said to someone who had commented that the author loves using
00:39:47
big words but hates using them correctly another reader commented on what they considered odd the word choices Locke
00:39:55
referring to a bulldog as a tenacious talk that has talent like claws they accused the author of over using a
00:40:02
thesaurus and called it the sort of writing they would expect from a precocious young team he get to impress
00:40:07
his English teacher Richard responded when I won countdown I got a 20 volume dictionary but have
00:40:17
never owned a thesaurus naturally my vocabulary is bigger than yours a talk means a dog and particularly Fitz this
00:40:25
dog because he also acts like a small child int some words have multiple meanings he is acting tenaciously and
00:40:32
tenacity is a well-known feature of Bulldogs a bulldog with unkar nails has a Talon white claw
00:40:44
meanwhile Ella quietly moved to Glasgow in Scotland for a new job in August 2014
00:40:51
even though she hadn't seen richard britain for six months putting 500 miles between them men she could relax a
00:40:58
little more breathe a little easier that month ella received a message via twitter from someone using the handle at
00:41:07
the world rose it was Richard he asked her to read he self-published masterpiece and let him know what she
00:41:14
thought ella blocked him but didn't go to the police the English police had dismissed her
00:41:21
concerns several times and she didn't want to get rebuffed in a similar manner by the Scottish police she believed
00:41:27
Richard wouldn't be able to find her in Scotland but Richard trolled through her
00:41:33
Twitter and Instagram feeds to find clues of her whereabouts eventually he was able to figure out where her
00:41:39
workplace was on August 26 Richard tweeted to the world I think I might move to Scotland
00:41:49
by September 2014 Bella had settled into her new home and job when she finished up one shift she walked out of the store
00:41:58
and her stomach dropped sitting on a bench outside was Richard he waved at her and motioned that she should stop
00:42:10
and talk to him fear rendering her speechless Ella took off down the street Richard gathered his belongings and
00:42:18
followed he wanted to tell her of his amazing plan to get publicity for his book Richard had cooked up a plan to
00:42:27
kidnap Ella but it would be a ruse she would be in on it they were going to the hills and camp out while the nation
00:42:34
searched for her then when the media interest was at its peak they would return and she would tell the world that
00:42:41
they were in love best of all Ella who loved drama while they are at university would play the
00:42:49
lead role when the world Rose was made into a movie that would both be famous and live happily ever after on the sales
00:42:55
of the book Richard had the necessary supplies the carry out his plan with him in his bag Ella called triple nine the
00:43:06
emergency number and headed to a crowded area by the time police met with her Richard had disappeared they took a
00:43:14
statement and drove her home they waited but he didn't appear Richard went to Ella's workplace the next day but she
00:43:25
didn't show instead Ella had spent the day barricaded in her flat terrified the Ridgid had found where she worked she
00:43:33
had no way of knowing if he knew where she lived two days later Ella hesitantly returned
00:43:40
to work after her shift Richard appeared again carrying his duffel bag obstructed her path and insisted he
00:43:50
needed to talk to her this time Ella found her voice and screamed at him loudly making sure to cause a scene so
00:43:57
people would turn and look she pulled out her phone until his photograph for evidence then she ran back into a
00:44:04
workplace where he couldn't follow and a phone to the police when police arrived
00:44:10
Richard had disappeared again enabled by toffee anti-stalking legislation Scottish police agreed to charge Richard
00:44:18
with engaging in a course of conduct causing fear or alarm once they found him Richard returned to London on the way
00:44:29
home he fired up his laptop and wrote a blog post and he called the benevolent stalker in a he wrote of his unrequited
00:44:36
love for Ella and all the things that he had done to try and make her love him back he wrote of it as a great love
00:44:44
story quote every great romance is about two partners who are utterly obsessed with each other
00:44:51
Romeo and Juliet are people who are so passionate liam powerfully in love then nothing else matters to them but what if
00:44:58
that feeling was felt on only one side what if Juliet had rejected Romeo would he become a stalker it seems that modern
00:45:08
society drools over depictions of this intense obsessional love but only when it's mutual when it comes from just one
00:45:16
side had suddenly gained a terrible theme when I was listening to the Beatles I realized that a lot of their
00:45:24
early music suited ma nood much of it is about being utterly obsessed with a particular woman are the Beatles creepy
00:45:32
stalkers of course not he went on to say I think our relationship is finished you know I gave
00:45:44
it my best shot and he ended the blogpost with but alas I'll have to find another way
00:45:54
Richard resumed his nomadic lifestyle although now he called it living as a [ __ ] he found a spot on a golf course
00:46:02
where he could pitch his 10 H naught every morning at 7 a.m. and men would come by on a lawnmower which would be
00:46:09
Richards cue to pack up and find somewhere to write for the day the lawnmower man didn't mind him being
00:46:14
there and sometimes acknowledged him with a cheery greeting London was a great place for the starving tortured
00:46:22
artist lifestyle as there were any number of places with free Wi-Fi and where Richard could plug in and charge
00:46:28
up his laptop he spent his days in libraries pubs Starbucks McDonald's and Waterstones bookstores
00:46:37
he wrote blog posts for his website almost daily when he saw homeless people he would lecture them and give them
00:46:43
unsolicited advice telling them that they could live like him just by spending ten quid on a ten
00:46:50
he felt like famed author George Orwell who he recalled lived as a [ __ ] when he
00:46:56
wrote down and out in London in Paris yet Richard was not getting the kinds of reviews that all well did on Wattpad
00:47:04
things were getting worse for the world rose as more negative feedback piled up Richard simply didn't understand that
00:47:12
every time he lashed out at critics he was attracting more negative attention he was firm in his belief in
00:47:18
his own brilliance and his self-importance grew rather than receded he was unable to take even
00:47:25
well-intentioned criticism from successful authors dismissing their opinions as meaningless in a very short
00:47:32
time Richard had acquired quite the reputation on the side and what Pat users wanted to punish his arrogance
00:47:39
somewhat paid users went to Goodreads and gave the world Rose a one-star rating even though they hadn't read
00:47:46
beyond the prologue Goodreads is the English language's premier site for independent public reviews of all books
00:47:53
it's one of the top 500 websites of the world with tens of millions of members good reads reviews carry the same sort
00:48:01
of weight for authors as TripAdvisor does for hotels or Yelp for restaurants [Music]
00:48:08
one frequent Wattpad user called herself page e leu or sometimes page e rants page e Liu spent a lot of time on the
00:48:17
site where she declared herself to be a writer reader critic and artist in her profile she wrote writing is my only
00:48:26
bias don't care what I'm writing so long as I'm producing words and some kind of
00:48:31
story and building characters to my in to your satisfaction I am constantly striving to be better
00:48:37
and to thus constantly live with the urge to edit in turn this causes me a great deal of stress I am learning to
00:48:45
chill a photograph of a slim redheaded teenager and de links to several other social media platforms that she used the
00:48:53
company paid you lose profile she had sassy quotes and rules for people interacting with her such as don't ask
00:49:01
me to follow you and don't ask me to read your stuff in her description of herself she said I have the worst luck
00:49:09
and I'm sure if he stayed long enough you will see this for yourself seeing the reactions of new author Richard
00:49:18
Britton to critiques of the book he had uploaded page II Luke downloaded the prologue to the world Rose for herself
00:49:24
then she wrote a review of it on Goodreads page II lose 1500 word one-star review of the world Rose was
00:49:33
skating the prologue she called just awful adding it was bland and bored her out of her skull she hated the cover the
00:49:41
blurb the writing the characters and the story she wrote it's filled with many writing no notice way to much telling
00:49:50
pretentious prose and a main character that I already hate she provided patronizing advice to the author stating
00:49:59
that he should have given his book away for free and to pointed out many so-called writing rules that she
00:50:04
considered he had breached finally she turned to an assessment of the author himself quote and Britain has the
00:50:13
audacity to say to continue reading please purchase the book you may not have to pay to read something that's not
00:50:20
being professionally edited no thank you I wouldn't even download a free version at the book to be perfectly
00:50:26
honest with you Britain's infamy on Wattpad means that we Wattpad is no he didn't bother to
00:50:32
invest in a professional editor for this which means he has little respect for his readers it also means he's
00:50:38
incredibly stubborn and arrogant if he thinks this kind of material is worth money
00:50:43
I strongly feel that had this undergone a round of edits from a professional and
00:50:47
if Britain had opted to make friends on Wattpad instead of enemies he could have
00:50:51
found himself some lovely readers who would have helped him sort out all of these rookie mistakes it's a real shame
00:50:57
because there is plenty of potential here but nobody wants to read a potentially good book we want to read
00:51:03
books polished to perfection and sadly I think the world Rose is far from perfection
00:51:11
Paigey Liu signed at the review with her real name Paige Rowland one of the throwaway lines in her review was
00:51:19
unfortunately mr. Britain has gained a bit of infamy on what that where he's known for threatening users who don't
00:51:25
praise him pray for me the more Richards work was attacked and ridiculed the more he fought back making
00:51:34
things worse for himself when critics spoke about writing rules he called the media --ts and wrote the following as
00:51:41
any artist will tell you there are no rules when he read page Rowland's Goodreads review every seething emotion
00:51:50
he had came to the fore she had not only attacked him and his writing she had attacked Ella the love of his
00:51:57
life he saw that the teenager was prolific on social media and had no problem finding her Facebook profile
00:52:05
that listed her workplace as the Asda superstore in of all places busco two weeks after leaving Scotland
00:52:16
Richard hopped on a train headed back to the home of the object of his affections
00:52:21
this time he was ruled by burning hatred instead of the love that led him there the last time when he arrived that night
00:52:29
he found a camp spot and played the acoustic version of the song God by John Lennon I had a message from above and
00:52:39
I'm here to tell you that this message concerns our love the Angels must have sent me
00:52:47
to deliver this to you the next day Richard calmly entered the as the superstore he selected a bottle of white
00:53:00
wine from the alcohol section and walked to the breakfast oil he saw the familiar redheaded teenager
00:53:07
kneeling down before the shelf want with cereal boxes distracted in her work Richard walked up behind Paige Rowland
00:53:15
and slammed to the bottle as hard as he could against the petite teenager's skull
00:53:19
[Music] Paige was rushed to hospital her head wound was deep and required many stitches at first she had no idea why a
00:53:31
random person would attack her in such a way but once she was shown CCTV footage
00:53:36
of her attacker she was able to identify him as the world rose author Richard Britton Paige knew what he looked like
00:53:44
from his pictures on the internet and had no doubt it was him she knew it was payback for her scathing review of his
00:53:51
book after the attack Richard immediately fled Glasgow for England the next day he joined in the
00:53:59
global March for elephants and rhinos in London not because he cared about stopping the ivory trade but because a
00:54:06
lot of girls went to these things he eluded police spending his days exercising and riding until he was
00:54:15
traced by his mobile phone signal and was promptly arrested his phone signal also placed him in Glasgow at the time
00:54:22
of paid Roland's attack richard britain was charged with the attack on Paige Rowland and finally with stalking
00:54:30
elector and upon pleading not guilty richard was released on bail pending trial he started seeing a psychiatrist
00:54:39
as per normal procedure in the UK the police did not publicly release Richards name in connection with the attack on
00:54:46
Paige Roland therefore the media in public were unaware he was charged in connection
00:54:51
with that crime meanwhile Richards blog posts the benevolent stalker which he wrote right after the last time he
00:55:00
accosted a larger and had gone viral after being shared on social media by members of the Wattpad community it
00:55:08
spread like wildfire it was picked up by popular female focus to news and gossip
00:55:13
site Jezebel the post gave such an incredible insight into the mind of a deranged stalker that some people
00:55:21
couldn't believe it was genuinely autobiographical one reader wrote in response to the article I don't believe
00:55:28
this is real if this were a true story that would be utterly terrifying but something about it reads fishy most
00:55:38
readers however were sickened and frightened by the delusional rambling and were horrified by the utter
00:55:44
disregard the author had for the woman whom he knew didn't return his feelings but continued to harass anyway some
00:55:52
people warned that the behavior of the delusional author might escalate at some point without anyone realizing that it
00:55:59
already had one commenter wrote this thing reads is some sort of over-the-top parody I mean it just sounds so utterly
00:56:08
batshit insane that no rational person would have a problem thinking that this kind of behavior was wrong he needs some
00:56:15
very intensive help because if this escalates someone is going to lose their life at his hands
00:56:20
we have been warned Richard was more prolific with his blogging whilst out on bail he claimed his psychiatric
00:56:31
treatment allowed him to develop awareness and insight into the delusional thinking that previously
00:56:36
enveloped him in his blog post a revaluation of romance he said honey I recognized that my behavior was vile
00:56:45
selfish and deluded he wrote another about how any psychotics were making him a better person in that blog he wrote
00:56:53
you were probably going to hear about the terrible things I've done because they are likely to make the news once my
00:56:59
trials are over all I can say is I'm sorry genuinely in November 2015 Richard Britton pled guilty to the
00:57:11
assault on Paige Rowland and to the stalking of Ella tear and he was sentenced to 30 months in prison with an
00:57:18
indefinite order that prevented him from using any electronic device to monitor the movements follow communicate contact
00:57:25
or approach either of his victims Paige Rowland has told reporters that the attack had left her fearful afraid of
00:57:33
meeting new people and too nervous in big crowds the once opinionated young woman became frightened to share her
00:57:40
views not just online but even in a supportive classroom environment a few months before he was sentenced Richard
00:57:49
Britton published a palm online called apology to Scottish Lu a reference to page Rowland's Wattpad username page he
00:57:57
Lou dear Scottish Lu many things you said left me black and blue I thought that I
00:58:05
was dead to me you were a shrew a rascal raging red but if only I knew it was all
00:58:13
inside my head now my mind is true I feel no more dread I apologized to you this poem I hope you've read elegy rant
00:58:26
told a stalking seminar quote I feel incredibly let down by the police I can't believe it's taken three years to
00:58:34
get any sort of justice if someone had listened to me and acted sooner then what happened to page might not have
00:58:41
happened and I would not have been subjected to as long an ordeal ella was no longer the bubbly friendly barmaid
00:58:49
ready with a smile and a chat the three years of living in fear took their toll and she became reclusive roots in
00:58:58
Britain was released after serving just fifteen months of his sentence in early 2017 he was posting online again on a
00:59:07
blog he called putting new wine in new bottles he recounted some of his experiences in prison including watching
00:59:15
the entire series of Dexter and befriending rapist George Cameron bridge with Britain's
00:59:22
books remain available for sale including his deluded fantasy opus 2 his victim and princess Ella tundra audio of
00:59:31
Richard Britain reading the introduction of the world Rose is still online once upon a time there was a great
00:59:40
forest realm high up on a hill among the yew trees stood a castle in that castle lived a
00:59:47
princess and her name was Ella tundra her hair was golden brown and her eyes were blue like the ocean her smile could
00:59:55
melt the hearts of knights and her voice was delicate like a leaf in the wind she was tall an elegant slender yet well
01:00:01
endowed Thundra was in her name but not her nature for she was neither cold nor bleak like Tundra but warm and vibrant
01:00:07
like a meadow in summer at twenty-three years of age the princess's world renewed word of her loveliness had
01:00:13
spread around the globe to distant lands and far-reaching empires [Music] you [Music]