A NORTH-EAST stalking expert has painted a psychological portrait of people who can bring untold misery to their victims.

He also revealed that technological advances like the Internet are one of the main reasons why stalking is Britain's fastest-growing crime.

Rajesh Nadkarni, who is a specialist registrar at St Nicholas Hospital, in Newcastle, has had a paper on stalking published in the prestigious British Medical Journal.

He told The Northern Echo yesterday that most stalkers are white males in their mid-thirties.

Research suggests these men are lonely and have had relationship difficulties in the past.

Mr Nadkarni says they are also more likely to be unemployed because stalking requires a lot of time.

Victims of stalking are mainly women, also in their mid-thirties, and who are perceived as being in a better position than those who are hunting them.

Evidence of the growing problem of stalking is the increasing number of cases coming before the courts as a result of the 1997 Protection from Harassment Act.

The act allows a person to be fined, imprisoned, or made the subject of a restraining order, if they are found to have harassed another person.

Mr Nadkarni is keen to stress that the act encompasses a wide range of behaviour, not all of which are stalking.

But he does believe that better cooperation is needed between health professionals and those in the criminal justice system if help is to be given to both stalkers and their victims.

"Technological advances like e-mail and the Internet have led to stalkers being able to pursue their victims more easily and as a result people from the North-East have had their lives made hell and have had to move away," he said.

"Victims go through psychological problems and stalkers may not be aware of the effects their behaviour can have.

"Stalking is often romanticised by the media and in films, but the effects in real life can be very damaging.