Molly McLaren Stalked and Murdered by Ex
Falling Hard
23 year-old Molly McLaren had everything going for her. She was deep into her second year at university and studying for a degree in health and fitness. According to her best friend Chloe Smith, “Everyone gravitated towards her, that’s why she had so many friends. If she became your friend, you were friends for life. We were friends for almost 20 years and I couldn’t imagine her not being my friend.”
Molly did battle with bulimia. But she had been determined to overcome her issues and had even launched a popular blog about her recovery in the hope it would help others also dealing with eating disorders.
While going to university and doing a blog Molly was able to find time to work a part-time job as a shop assistant in the retail store, Ted Baker.
Then in the summer of 2016, she matched with Joshua Stimpson on the dating app, Tinder. Molly’s decision to swipe right cost her her life.
Joshua grew up in Stoke-on-Trent but had moved to Medway after finishing secondary school. He later lived in Wouldham, near Rochester, and had started working at Window Plan in Strood.
Former colleagues at his workplace described two completely different sides to Joshua. One, a charming bright man, who stood out by “a mile” when he applied for a job as a double glazing salesman. The other, a depressed irrational loner who “couldn’t engage in conversation”.
When Molly swiped right she got the charming and bright Joshua. I’ll be honest if I saw his picture come up as a match I would have swiped right too. He has dark hair, is very put together, and has a muscular body. I can see why she was attracted to him.
And as someone who’s used a dating app before I can say it’s difficult to tell if the person on the other end is who they say they are. But Molly fell hard for Joshua.
The pair messaged each other for three months before finally meeting. According to best friend Chloe, “It was Molly’s first proper boyfriend.”
Joshua had confided in Molly that he had been diagnosed with bi-polar disorder — something that worried her mother, Joanne. She said: “She (Molly) asked me not to judge but knowing she had issues I asked her if she felt able to take on other people’s issues.”
Molly responded, “we could help each other”
Though in reality, Joshua did not have bi-polar, which was backed up by both the prosecution and defense psychologists at his trial.
The Change
Molly and Joshua began to start dating shortly after meeting. They appeared to make a happy couple in the first few months. Even worried mom Joanne described Joshua as “normal”.
The then 25-year-old was soon spending most of his free time with Molly at her family home. He chatted to her dad, Doug, about football, even preferring to spend Father’s Day with him rather than his own dad. The whole family went to watch Joshua take part in the London Marathon in April 2017 as he ran to raise money for a bi-polar charity. But as the months wore on and Molly and Joshua’s relationship evolved, those closest to her started to notice a change.
Mrs McLaren described how her daughter seemed to be “bored of the relationship” in March of 2017. Molly was beginning to feel overwhelmed with how much time Joshua wanted to spend with her.
According to her dad Doug, “It seemed as though he didn’t have any friends and was a bit of a loner. He just wanted her to himself and wasn’t interested in making new friends or even dealing with Molly’s friends. He would just turn up uninvited when she wanted to have some time on her own to study. He would come and lie on her bed so he knew where she was and what she was doing.”
Joshua even quit his job in a warehouse so he could spend even more time with Molly during her summer break. This put a real strain on the relationship. But it was at a party to celebrate Molly’s aunt’s 60th birthday in Essex that the first terrifying signs of Joshua’s behavior began to show.
According to Molly’s mother Joanne, “He was staring at Molly as if to say ‘come and sit back down, I don’t want you dancing’. She was dancing with her cousins and one of my nieces, who hadn’t met him before, said she didn’t like him.” After the party was over and Molly, Joshua and her mum and dad had all gone to bed, Joanne received a chilling WhatsApp message from her daughter. It asked her to come to the room she was sharing with Joshua because he was “playing up”.
When Joanne arrived in their room, she found Molly “pacing up and down” angrily.
“You won’t believe what he has done,” Molly said, “He has been recording me and videoing me.” Molly went on to tell her mom how Joshua just stayed lying on the bed as cool as a cucumber during the argument. This was when Molly told her mom she didn’t feel the same about Joshua and that she knew she had to end it.
The Breakup
The only problem was Molly didn’t know how to break up with him because she was so concerned with how he would feel. This was typical of Molly who was always putting everyone before herself.
But things came to head when the couple were on a night out with Molly’s friends and she took Joshua to one side and told him it was over. Molly had told her mom how Joshua had shouted out loud “She’s finished with me” in front of a room full of her friends. He couldn’t accept her decision and bombarded her with messages but Molly remained firm and wouldn’t get back together with him.
Joshua then started a campaign of abuse on social media. He created posts claiming Molly was a drug addict who used cocaine and tagged her parents in them. The abuse carried on for days. After being advised by a family friend, Molly took the decision to collate and print out all of the posts and go to North Kent Police Station, where she reported the abuse to PC Philpott on June 22.
Officers checked their files and Joshua had no record so police told Molly and her friends and family to block him on social media and to report any further abuse.
During her time at the police station, PC Philpott dialed Joshua on the phone and told him: “We wouldn’t want Molly to come to the police station again about you would we?”
Joshua simply replied, “Would’t we?”
One particular comment Joshua posted Mrs McLaren described as “alarming”, which had simply warned Molly that there was “more to come” and he wasn’t joking.
Just days after going to the police, Molly posted that she was going out for dinner with friends on Snapchat, thinking Joshua couldn’t see it as she had blocked him. But while she was with her pals in the restaurant, he turned up. Molly put it down to simple coincidence but felt so uncomfortable she came home early.
The Murder
On June 28 Molly visited Pure Gym at the Dockside in Chatham. She has to film herself exercising as part of her course to become a personal instructor. That evening she visited The Ship and Trades pub with a group of friends to celebrate one of them getting a new job.
But as the group were in the midst of enjoying their evening, Joshua is said to have entered the pub with “another girl” who the group did not recognize. Her friend, Chloe, described how Molly did not seem “scared” by Joshua’s sudden appearance, describing the reaction among the group as being, “what a creep”. At first there was puzzlement as to how he had worked out where Molly was that night, but the group soon realized it had been posted on social media earlier that day. Joshua then proceeded to walk past the group’s table towards the smoking area and just stood there looking at the group. But according to other witnesses Joshua didn’t smoke.
Feeling once again uncomfortable Molly decided to leave. It was because she wanted to tell her mom that Joshua had showed up at the pub that night to which her friends told her “don’t worry about that psycho.”
What Molly was experiencing is called stalking. According to CDC.gov stalking occurs when someone repeatedly harasses or threatens someone else, causing fear or safety concerns. Most often, stalking occurs by someone the victim knows or with whom they had an intimate relationship. About 1 in 6 women and 1 in 17 men have experienced stalking in their lifetimes. Research shows stalking can lead to depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. About 68% of female and 70% of male victims experienced threats of physical harm during their lifetime.
Some common stalking tactics include:
- Unwanted phone calls
- Unwanted emails, instant messages, text messages, voice messages, or social media messages
- Approaching a victim or showing up unwanted, such as at the victim’s home, workplace, or school
- Leaving strange or potentially threatening items for the victim to find
- Watching, following, or tracking a victim
- Sneaking into the victim’s home or car and doing things to scare the victim or let them know the perpetrator had been there
While each case is different many can be prevented from going any further by involving authorities. But for Molly the authorities did little to prevent what would happen next.
On June 29th Molly once again visited Pure Gym at the Dockside. A staff member saw her entering at 10:10 AM. Joshua had entered after her which Molly noticed. She then proceeded text her mother at 10:45 to say “Mum he’s turned up at the gym and come next to me.”
CCTV footage shows Joshua arriving at the gym then actively seeking out Molly to exercise right next to her.
Feeling again uneasy Molly called her mom who advised her to come straight home but to drive safely. This would be the last communication she had with her daughter. Molly’s last words came in the form of a WhatsApp message sent to friends at 11:02 AM which simply read: “Feels like I’m f***ing looking over my shoulder all the time.”
At 11.08 am, having followed her movements to her car, Joshua “yanked open” the driver-side door of Molly’s car before launching his frenzied assault.
The attack was witnessed by multiple bystanders in the car park, including brave Benjamin Morton who courageously attempted to halt the attack, slamming Joshua’s leg in Molly’s car door, pulling at him, then parking his car in front of Joshua’s to block his escape.
Joshua eventually climbed out of the car “covered in blood”, was seen to wipe the blood from his face and calmly handed himself to police, saying “you want me”. Despite the efforts of paramedics, Molly was officially pronounced dead at 11:43 AM.
Autopsy reports say that Molly was stabbed 75 times with a paring knife from Homebase.
Molly’s family was devastated. Her mother had to deliver the news to her father via phone since he was working on a boat 100 miles off the coast of Senegal.
Despite being found at the scene, covered in blood and with the murder weapon in Molly’s car, Joshua heaped more hell on the family by pleading not guilty to murder but guilty to manslaughter. He claimed diminished responsibility and insisted he could remember nothing about the attack, meaning the case went to trial and Molly’s loved ones had to hear the gruesome details of her death.
The Trial
So for those of us who don’t have a law degree the difference between manslaughter and murder is that manslaughter is a homicide that is the unintentional killing of another person whereas murder is intentional. Often manslaughter cases are treated as much less severe crimes than murder. Meaning that the punishment would be less severe.
During the trial is was reviled that the Joshua had trouble with women in the past. Alexandra Dale and Leah Hubbard, who both dated Joshua, testified about his controlling and possessive nature.
Miss Dale told the court by video link Joshua had tried to call her 25 times in one day after a night out together, before things got worse and worse. He even threatened to “fly out and drown her” while she was on holiday, and slashed all the tires on her car.
Miss Hubbard told a similar tale of how the two had begun dating, only for Joshua to grow increasingly controlling when she was not always available to spend time with him. Eventually she told him if he ever came back to her flat she would call the police, after he followed her around a Maidstone bar on one occasion and spat a drink over her on another.
These details prompted a domestic homicide review (DHR) that was carried out by the Kent and Medway Community Safety Partnerships reviewing how Molly’s case was handled by authorities.
It found Staffordshire Police failed to adequately investigate allegations made against Joshua 4 years prior to Molly’s death. At this time he was dating Miss. Dale in which she reported harassing text messages to authorities. But the messages weren’t recorded as a crime, there was not enough evidence linking him to the criminal damage and ultimately Joshua was sent a text by a police officer warning him to stay away.
Kent Police were not informed of Joshua’s past when he moved to the county and as he’d never been a formal suspect or cautioned for any offenses he was not present on any police database.
The DHR read: “The potential relevance of Staffordshire Police’s involvement hinges on whether, had things been done differently, Kent Police might have found out about the 2013 incident in Staffordshire when [Molly] reported her concerns about [Joshua].
“This could have been achieved in two ways: first, if [Joshua] had been named as a suspect for a crime, a search of the Police National Database (PND) would have revealed this. Second, if he had been cautioned or convicted of a criminal offense, this would have been recorded on the Police National Computer (PNC).”
In 2016 Staffordshire Police changed its policy, meaning officers are now required to record stalking as a crime even if victims don’t want to take matters further.
As for Joshua he was found guilty of murder on Feb. 6, 2018. He was sentenced to at least 26 years in prison. It took the jury “less than four hours” to convict him of murder.
Judge Williams, who was providing over the case, told him during the court proceedings, “This was an act of wickedness. You took away Molly’s life quite deliberately in the most vicious fashion. You were determined to punish her for ending the relationship with you. You were seeking revenge. She was 23 years old, beautiful and intelligent. Her family’s grief and anguish is raw and apparent for everyone to see. You are a highly dangerous young man and you will pose a very considerable risk to women for a very considerable period in the future.”
Molly’s parents hope the changes in the reporting laws for stalking will help the next girl not become the next victim.
Helpful Tips
I want to leave you with some general tips and resources if you ever find yourself in a stalking situation. These tips are taken from Stalking Prevention, Awareness, and Resource Center (SPARC)
- If you feel you are in imminent danger of fear a threat of harm, please call 911 immediately!
- Trust your instincts. Victims of stalking often feel pressured by friends or family to downplay the stalker’s behavior, but stalking poses a real threat of harm. Your safety is paramount.
- Keep a record or log of each contact with the stalker. You can use the log on SPARC as an example. Be sure to also document any police reports.
- Save evidence when possible. Stalkers often use technology to contact their victims. Save all emails, text messages, photos, and postings on social networking sites as evidence of the stalking behavior. You may also want to consider how to use your technology and your devices in a safer manner.
- Get connected with a local victim service provider who can assist you in exploring your options as well as discuss safety planning.
Be sure to check out my podcast Leave The Lights On for episodes like this and more!
