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A woman says she had her life ‘destroyed’ after she spent 20 minutes with a man she met on a dating app.
In 2018, Nadia matched with Christopher Harkins on Tinder and agreed to a date with him.
However, a whole load of ‘red flags’ straight off the bat meant she cut it pretty short and took herself home. But while the 34-year-old thought it had all just ended there, unfortunately, ‘it just got so much worse’.
Nadia says she was bombarded with threats and insults from Harkins, which she reported to Police Scotland the next day.
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But Nadia was told ‘nothing could be done’ for her, and his abuse continued for over a year, with the mum-of-two just one of a number of women he is believed to have targeted.
'The place was bare - No furniture'
Nadia had been chatting to Harkins for a few weeks when she went to pick him up from his flat to go out for dinner. But when she arrived, she says he was wearing joggers and a vest top, claiming to be too tired to go out and suggested getting a takeaway.
"This is where it gets bizarre," the sports massage therapist told the BBC. "I went in. The place was bare. No furniture. The living room was totally empty apart from a TV on some boxes."
He then offered to make her a drink, but she declined and poured a Diet Coke, which she says caused some kind of ‘internal man tantrum’ before she accidentally spilt some.
'The look in his eyes was crazy'
"The look in his eyes was crazy. He said something like, 'You're so clumsy, you don't respect my property. You're a clown',” Nadia recalled.
She then decided to leave, ‘terrified’ he was going to follow her and the rejection seemed to trigger the man as he began threatening to ‘petrol bomb’ her home, kill her and attack her dad.
'I would have ended my life'
Harkins also sent abuse about her appearance, as she says the police didn’t ‘want to help’ her initially. Having blocked his number, over a year later, Harkins was continuing to harass her by contacting people she knew online.
“The frame of mind he put me in, if I didn't have my daughter, I would have ended my life,” Nadia said.
Where is Harkins now?
As far back as 2012, the BBC found that 11 women had tried to report the man, but despite allegations of physical attacks, frauds, threats and abuse, he was not investigated until late 2019.
Harkins was initially charged with threatening and abusive behaviour towards Nadia and of threatening her family, and is currently serving a 12-year sentence after being convicted of 19 offences against 10 women.
He stood trial in 2024, after the investigation was sparked by a media campaign in 2019.
He pleaded guilty to stealing more than £214,000 from women, but the BBC investigation uncovered further alleged frauds of almost £70,000 as the outlet understands he targeted at least 30 women.
Harkins' crimes were also documented in Prime Video's Catching the Tinder Predator as he is thought to be one of the most prolific romance scammers in the UK.
What has Police Scotland said?
DCI Lyndsay Laird, who led Police Scotland’s investigation, said it was difficult to say why the women’s reports weren’t investigated earlier.
"Each one was reported at different stages, so they weren't all reported together, they were reported in different divisions throughout Police Scotland," she told the BBC.
"There was no reports of physical or sexual abuse ever made to the police at that time.
"It was mainly around the financial situation, which when they're treated in isolation, they have been taken as civil investigations. I think it's safe to say policing has evolved massively since the time those initial reports have come in."
And when asked if the force would apologise to the victims who had tried to report the fraudster, she added: “I think that's a very difficult question to answer.
"I think they've got a successful court result now, based on the investigation that was conducted.
"I would say with everything that we've put in place since then, I would hope that that experience wouldn't be replicated now."
Nadia added that the police ‘could have stopped him’ and that they ‘should apologise’.
Topics: Sex and Relationships
Jess Battison