'Baby Reindeer's 'real-life Martha' stalked me for 5 years – she said I hit my child'
A woman who says she was stalked by the 'real-life Martha' from Baby Reindeer in a five year hell has bravely come forward to share her story.
Laura Wray says that the resurgence of 'Martha' into the public eye has reignited the terror of her past stalking nightmare.
Laura, who is the widow of the late Labour MP Jimmy Wray, is now living in fear for her safety after she says she's been bombarded with abusive online messages from the woman who recently "outed" herself as the character from the chilling Netflix series.
It's been 22 years since Laura obtained an interim restraining order against this individual back in 2002, and yet the shadow of her stalker seems to loom over her once more.
Breaking her silence, Laura spoke up following the 'real-life Martha's' interview with Piers Morgan last Thursday, 9 May.
The ordeal began, according to Laura, when she offered the womana lawyer a two-week trial at her law firm in Glasgow in 1997. The employment was short-lived; the woman was dismissed after just a week due to abusive behaviour.
In a shocking twist, the same woman was later accused of making false allegations to social services, claiming Laura had harmed her disabled child, reports the Mirror.
Laura expressed her ongoing distress, saying: "I hadn't thought about her for years. I had forgotten so much of it. Every time someone says a comment, it triggers it again. Memories of things that she did. Some of her actions. It's pretty distressing. Watching her last night [on Piers], how did I manage to cope with that for so long?"
"My partner and I are concerned about what she might do next. Is she going to come after me? She is posting things on Facebook accusing me of all sorts, and of being abusive. You don't know where it will end."
Laura believes she features indirectly in Baby Reindeer via a fictional newspaper article with the headline: Sick stalker targets barrister's deaf child. And she urged the woman's friends to help bring the circus to an end.
Laura added: "If she does have any friends, surely they should be trying to help her and calm things down. But she doesn't want to calm things down. Part of her is really enjoying this. She even had a makeover for Piers Morgan."
Baby Reindeer has become one of the most-watched Netflix shows of all time since it was released on April 11, with more than 22 million worldwide streams. Martha, played by Jessica Gunning, latches on to a struggling stand-up comedian Richard Gadd and is eventually jailed.
Each episode begins with the words: "This is a true story."
Laura said she was shocked by the fact Netflix "didn't attempt to hide the stalker's identity". She added: "Even if she wasn't mentally ill, if you are doing a show billed as a true story where the people are still alive and might be harmed, there is a duty of care. But she seems obviously so mentally ill. They haven't done enough to protect her."
The situation escalated for Laura after she dismissed the woman from her law firm, leading to a barrage of phone calls and negative comments to colleagues. The harassment extended to Laura's loved ones, culminating in a false report to social services.
Laura recounted the ordeal: "She made some bizarre allegation that I was in my car driving and somehow managed to hit my son who was sitting in the back of the car in the child seat. Eventually it was all dropped but that's when I went for an interim injunction. Thankfully, it worked. She didn't defend it. We never heard any more from her."
Despite the dramatic conclusion of Baby Reindeer where Martha admits to stalking and receives a prison sentence, Laura's actual stalker maintains her innocence, claiming she has never faced charges or imprisonment.
