Edward Vines wrote eight letters to Maitlis and her mother expressing his “unrequited” love for the former Newsnight presenter, a court heard. He attempted to send the letters from HMP Nottingham between May 2020 and December 2021. A judge at Nottingham Crown Court told Vines he had shown “breathtaking persistence” in his attempts to contact Maitlis, saying it was clear the defendant regarded the restraining metal as “insignificant”. Jurors were told Vines had “systematically and with increasing frequency” breached two separate restraining orders imposed on him in 2002 and 2009 – with 12 breaches of his name and seven separate prosecutions. For the last two of his previous offences, Vines was jailed for three years after a judge said he feared “it doesn’t look like this will ever end” and described the defendant’s behavior as a “lifelong obsession”. In one of his letters to Maitlis, Vines told her he would “keep thinking and writing letters in prison” unless she told him about her “behavior” while they were together at Cambridge University in 1990. Image: Edward Vines was sentenced to eight years in prison. Photo: Thames Valley Police Stalker had an “insatiable desire” to contact Maitlis The 52-year-old was previously on trial in October last year and after proceedings were halted due to medical issues, he wrote two more letters in which he tried to accuse Maitlis of not admitting he was “attracted”. He denied eight charges of attempting to breach a restraining order but was unanimously convicted of all charges by a jury. Prosecutor Ian Way spoke of Vine’s “insatiable desire” to speak to Maitlis, with the stalker admitting he would send her letters if he was released. Despite a lengthy prison sentence and a restraining order, Judge Mark Watson told the defendant he “remained undaunted and continued his endeavours”. He told Vines: “In my judgment you have shown breathtaking persistence and complete disregard for the order and procedures you have come to expect. “The only thing preventing you from contacting her is your continued imprisonment. “It’s an obsession you couldn’t escape.” Read more: Emily Maitlis on ‘Tory race at BBC heartland’ Use Chrome browser for more accessible video player 4:27 Maitlis on impartiality and this monologue “A futile harassment campaign” Maitlis – who conducted an infamous interview with Prince Andrew in 2019 – refused to give a victim impact statement to the court before the sentencing hearing. The reporter has previously told how the harassment “scared” her children and reminded her that Vines “remains a constant threat in my life”. During the trial, Mr Way told jurors he displayed a “persistent and obsessive fixation” with Ms Maitli. He said: “Over a period of more than three decades, the defendant has demonstrated a persistent and obsessive attachment to BBC journalist and broadcaster Emily Maitlis, whom he met at university in the 1990s. “He can’t let go of something he perceived was wrong with him 30 years in the past and that, we say, is what drives him.” Nottinghamshire Police Sergeant Carl Holland, who led the investigation, said Vines was “losing his life by continuing this futile campaign of harassment”. “We can only hope that reality will now finally catch up with him and he will stop committing these crimes,” he added.
