The Murder of Alice Ruggles — Talk Murder With Me

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When the Facebook notification from the attractive stranger popped up on Alice’s phone, she was flattered.

“She is the most naturally beautiful woman I have ever seen,” the comment read. It was posted on a photo Alice’s friend had uploaded of her while on holiday in Sri Lanka.

Alice clicked on the profile. It was sent by a mutual friend by the name of Harry Dhillon. He was good-looking, with brooding dark eyes and thick, black hair. It was evident from his pictures that he took care of himself.

He must be a nice guy, Alice thought, to leave such a thoughtful comment. She decided to reach out and introduce herself.

Alice had no way of knowing that when she sent that first message, her life would change forever. And not for the good.

Alice Ruggles

Outgoing, kind and hardworking are just a few words Alice Ruggles’s friends and family would use to describe her. She could charm anyone with her with her sharp sense of humor. Wherever she went, Alice quickly made friends. She had a way of putting people at ease, laughing and joking with them - she made people she just met feel as though they had known each other for years.

Alice was born on Dec. 24, 1991 to Sue Hills and Clive Ruggles. She had two older siblings, Nick and Emma, and a younger brother, Patrick. The family of six were close-knit; even as the children grew up and moved away from home, they stayed in close contact via the family WhatsApp chat.

Alice and her siblings were raised in Leicestershire, in the small, quiet village of Tur Langton. At school, Alice immersed herself in the drama department, performing in a number of plays.

When she was 18, Alice attended Northumbria University, located about 200 miles north of Leicestershire. She chose the university mainly for its renowned fencing team; Alice excelled at the sport in high school. She graduated from university in 2014 with a degree in product design engineering, and soon got a job at the UK broadcasting company Sky in Newcastle, England. Alice moved into a flat in Gateshead, a large town located on the opposite side of the River Tyne from Newcastle. She prospered at work and quickly grew to love life in Newcastle.

Trimaan “Harry” Dhillon

Trimaan Dhillon, who began going by Harry Dhillon (which I will refer to him as for the purposes of this article) when he moved to the UK, was originally from India. He was an only child, raised in a devout Sikh household. The Dhillon family moved often as a result of Harry's father’s position in the army.

When Harry graduated from high school, he went to university to pursue a degree in strategy management. As a part of the degree programme, he was given the opportunity to study at Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh. Keen to discover a new way of life outside of India and for some time away from his deeply religious parents, Harry jumped at the chance to study abroad. He embraced life in the west, particularly enjoying the social scene. Free from the watchful eye of his parents, he went out clubbing often. He would drink heavily on nights out and enjoyed the company of a number of different women. It was the sort of behavior that his parents would never have approved of, but being so far away, Harry was not concerned about them finding out.

On graduating from university, Harry decided to enlist in the British Army after representatives came on a recruitment visit to Queen Margaret University. While in the army, Harry rose to the rank of Lance Corporal. His first tour of duty was in Afghanistan, where he served in a non-combat role.

A Relationship Quickly Blooms

While stationed in Afghanistan, Harry regularly used Facebook to keep up with friends and family in India and Scotland. It was in October of 2015 that he was scrolling through a friend’s photos when he came across a picture of a pretty girl with long, dark hair and a warm, kind smile.

Harry commented on the photo, writing how beautiful she was. It was not long before he received a message from her introducing herself. Her name was Alice Ruggles.

From that point on, Alice’s life would never be the same again. The two began messaging back and forth, and then video chatting several times a week. Harry was sweet and charming online, and Alice fell for him quickly.

When Harry returned to the UK from Afghanistan, the two met in person for the first time. They first spent an enjoyable week together in Newcastle, and then another Edinburgh, where Harry’s barracks were located. Harry then returned to Afghanistan for his final tour of duty. He would be gone for two months.

A Different Alice

Not long after Harry came back to the UK in April, friends, family and co-workers began seeing distinct changes in Alice. She was not her usual bubbly, cheerful self. Usually she was engaged and animated during conversation, but she was becoming increasingly distant and withdrawn. It was as though she was always somewhere else. She lost a lot of weight in a short period of time.

Alice no longer went out with her friends, and became combative with her housemates. As a result, she moved out and went to live with her co-worker, Maxine McGill, in her flat in Gateshead.

It became clear to Alice’s friends and family that her new boyfriend, Harry Dhillon, was the reason for the changes in her personality and behavior. As it turned out, Harry was far from the kind and thoughtful man Alice met online. In reality, he was possessive and controlling. He wanted to control every aspect of Alice’s life, from who she spent her time with to the way she looked.

Harry did not like Alice going out drinking, wearing make-up or dressing nicely to go out. He would go through her text messages and social media. Every time she spoke to another man, he accused her of flirting and being disloyal. As a result, Alice became increasingly isolated and lonely, a far cry from the fun-loving young woman she had once been.

The whole time Harry was attempting to assert his control over Alice, he was using dating apps to flirt with and seduce other women. He regularly met up with the women he met for casual sex. He made no effort to hide these other women from Alice. In fact, he wanted her to know about them. He wanted to make her jealous. In late July/early August 2016, a woman Harry had been chatting with on a dating website contacted Alice. It was then that Alice decided enough was enough, and she dumped Harry.

Getting Harry Dhillon out of her life, however, would prove impossible.

The Stalking Begins

The harder Alice tried to push Harry away and move on, the more he harassed and tormented her. In the weeks following the break-up, Harry called, texted and emailed her constantly. Sometimes he would be pleading with her to take him back, telling her how much he loved her and that he would change. Other times he was manipulative, trying to guilt her into getting back together with him, sobbing that he would kill himself and it would be her fault. Then there were the threatening messages, in which he told her he had compromising photos he had secretly taken of her, and if she did not get back together with him, he would post them online.

At first, Alice tried to be nice and let him down easy, but when she realized that this would not work, she began ignoring him. Enraged, Harry began calling Alice’s family and friends. He pleaded with them to try and reason with her. Knowing that Harry was nothing but bad news, they told him to leave Alice alone.

Alice began receiving letters from Harry, in which he wrote poems about how much he loved her and needed her. Then there were the more threatening letters in which he wrote things like: “I am going to make you my wife”.

Harry managed to hack into Alice’s social media accounts and read her private messages, so he knew where she was going and who she was talking to.

In early September, he found out through Alice’s Facebook that she had begun seeing someone else - an Army Officer named Mike. Harry sent messages directly to Mike, telling him how terrible Alice was, that Alice was still telling him (Harry) that she still loved him, and that she was cheating on Mike with him.

Mike knew about Harry and what he had been putting Alice through, so he did not take any of what Harry said seriously. Alice and Mike had met while Alice was visiting her sister Emma in Germany. The two hit it off right away. Alice’s flatmate, Maxine, would later say of Mike:

“Mike made her very happy, she told me that. She had a great couple of days with her sister and Mike. It was a strong bond between two people, they got on like a house on fire and she said the banter between them was unreal – that’s how she put it.”

Alice and Mike’s relationship continued to thrive. All the while, Harry became more jealous and obsessed.

Flowers and Chocolates

On Friday, Sept. 30, it became evident to Alice just how unhinged Harry had become.

That afternoon, he left a voicemail on her phone, pleading with her to call him back. When she didn’t call, he made the two and a half hour drive from his barracks in Edinburgh to Alice’s flat in Gateshead. Once he arrived, he rang the doorbell several times and then hid.

A few hours later, he climbed over the wall into the backyard and knocked on Alice’s bedroom window (the flat she shared with Maxine was on the ground floor). Terrified, Alice peaked around the curtain. On her windowsill sat a box of chocolates and a bouquet of flowers. She caught a glimpse of Harry backing away from the window.

Then Harry left another voicemail. He was trying to sound laid-back and casual, but his desperation was apparent. He told Alice that he realized that she did not want to talk to him on the phone, so he drove down to Gateshead instead, to leave her flowers and chocolates to say he was “sorry” for not leaving her alone.

The next voicemail he left sent shivers up Alice’s spine. He began by saying:

“You said that guys like me end up killing people.”

As though trying to convince himself that he was not a psychopath, he repeated again and again over the phone, “I don’t want to kill you. I’m not intending to kill you.”

He ended the ominous voicemail with an abrupt, “have a good night”.

Alice Contacts The Police

Alice was scared enough as a result of this incident that she called the police. For too long, she had put it off, trying to play everything down in her mind. But Harry had crossed a line when he drove all that way, left the unwanted gifts and terrified her by knocking on her window and waking her up. She called 101 (the number for non-emergencies in the UK).

Alice was shaken on the call, but she did her best to stay calm and polite. She began apologizing for calling, as though it was an inconvenience. The operator told Alice that she could either hire a solicitor and take out an injunction (a restraining order), or Harry could be issued with a Police Information Notice (PIN). A PIN would mean that if he comes near you or contacts you again, he will be arrested, the operator told her. Alice opted for the PIN option.

An officer came to Alice’s home on Sunday, Oct. 2 (she had called on Saturday, Oct. 1, just after midnight). They reassured her that she was not wasting their time, and took a statement from her. If he contacts you again, the officer said, call us right away.

Alice was extremely relieved. For the first time in months, she felt at ease. Little did she know, PIN notices do not constitute any formal legal action - it would do little beyond let Harry know Alice had contacted the police. The way it was described was misleading and it gave her a false sense of security.

Harry Is Not Deterred

An officer from the Northumbria Police called Harry’s barracks in Edinburgh, asking to speak to a superior of Harry Dhillon. The army superior was notified that Harry was being issued with a PIN notice at the request of Alice Ruggles. Something I found very strange was that the police officer did not ask to speak to Dhillon directly, but rather asked that his superior inform him he was being issued with the PIN.

Another thing: Police Scotland, nor the Royal Military Police, were ever informed that Harry Dhillon was receiving a PIN notice. The lack of police involvement in actually communicating with Harry himself I found pretty shocking. It really made it sound as though Harry was getting nothing more than a slap on the wrist for stalking and relentless harassment.

Harry was told by his army colleagues, his friends, even his doctor, to stop contacting Alice. It was unsurprising, however, that Harry outright ignored all of them and got to work putting together a package to send to Alice. In the package he put notebooks, photos and a letter. The letter was hostile in tone; he complained about the fact that Alice had reported him to the police. He tried to make her feel guilty by writing that he had had his phone, laptop and iPad taken away (all of which was untrue).

He finished the letter by writing: “I’m in a lot of shit now but hope you feel happy now … I’m sending you everything I have that reminds me of you as you belong to another man. Wishing you two a happy life. I will never come in your life again.”

Notice how he wrote that Alice belongs to another man?

Alice Contacts The Police Again

Alice had been instructed by the police to contact them if Harry got in touch with her again. So on Oct. 7, when she received the package, that’s what she did. But rather than focus on the fact Harry had violated the PIN notice he had been issued by contacting Alice, the operator was more preoccupied with the contents of the package. The contents shouldn’t have been the issue; it was the fact that Harry had contacted her after being warned not to.

Alice explained to the operator that while Harry said in his letter that he would not contact her again, he had said that a number of times before. He always contacted her again, no matter what. He was incapable of leaving her alone.

The operator told Alice that he would have someone call her back to discuss what to do next. Understandably, she was exasperated with this response. She had called the police on Harry once, then again when he violated the PIN notice. They were not grasping how afraid she really was, nor did they seem aware of what Harry was capable of, despite her telling them how extreme the stalking had become. What was also obvious was how useless the PIN notice was (as I mentioned previously, a PIN notice does not constitute any legal action).

Alice’s flatmate, Maxine, would later say: “Alice reported it to the police, it was 101 she called and it was the telephone operator she spoke to. She said she felt palmed off. She was asked the question: ‘What do you want us to do about it?’ She said: ‘I don’t know, that is why I am calling because I was told that if anything further happened I was to get in touch’. She said basically it was a waste of time.”

As promised, Alice received a call from a police officer later that day about the next course of action. On the call, Alice was asked if she would like Harry arrested. This should not have been asked of her. The police officer handling Alice’s case should have looked at the information she had given previously and made the decision based on that. Alice was anxious enough about calling the police in the first place, waiting far longer than she should have to report Harry’s behavior. She was still trying to play the situation down in her head, despite how afraid she was. No, she did not want him arrested, she told the officer. And that was that.

“When the second call happened she was just devastated. She felt she was on her own, that she had to deal with it herself.”
- Alice’s mother, Sue Hills

An Obsession Turns Deadly

By Wednesday, Oct. 12, it had been five days since the disappointing phone calls with police. While Alice was still scared and anxious about Harry, she was doing her best to distract herself, thinking about her plans for the weekend. Mike was coming over from Germany, so finally she had something to look forward to. He would be a much needed distraction from all that had been going on.

Alice got home from work and went to her bedroom. In between texting Mike, she began going through her closet, contemplating what she would wear to go out that weekend.

Little did she know, as she went about her business in her bedroom, Harry Dhillon was in her backyard. This was not the first time that week that he had been there without Alice’s knowledge. He had been there two days before, on Oct. 10, taking photos of the backyard and windows as reconnaissance. It was dark, and neither Alice, nor her flatmate Maxine, had any idea he was there.

This time, however, Harry was not just there to take photos. There was a window open in the flat, which he was easily able to climb through.

Harry Dhillon was in Alice Ruggles’ flat. There is no doubt as to what was going through his mind at that point: If I can’t have her, nobody can.

What happened after that isn’t exactly clear, but it all went down very quickly.

Harry cornered Alice in the bathroom with a sharp knife he found in the kitchen. Given Alice had been in her bedroom the whole time Harry was in the flat, he likely heard her go into the bathroom and followed her in.

The jury in Harry’s trial would later hear that Harry, who was 6ft 1, had most likely kneeled on 5ft 2 Alice’s back, held her head up, and slashed her throat at least six times, cutting into her spinal cord. Alice suffered 24 injuries, which included defensive wounds. Harry, on the other hand, suffered no injuries.

A Devastating Discovery

Alice’s flatmate Maxine came home from work to discover the front door of the flat locked. When she realized that she didn’t have her key with her, she climbed over the wall into the backyard and called for Alice to let her in. There was no reply, but Maxine saw that there was a window open which she could climb through.

Once inside, she was greeted by a horrific sight. There lay Alice lying on the bathroom floor, blood pooling around her. Maxine could tell almost immediately that Alice was dead - her skin had turned a translucent blue and she was unresponsive. The source of the blood was a deep gash across her neck.

Maxine called 999. She told the operator that she found her flatmate lying on the floor “covered in blood”. In the call, she implicated Harry Dhillon as the killer, describing him as an “absolute psychopath”.

The police and paramedics arrived at the flat, and Maxine’s worst fears were confirmed. Alice Ruggles would be pronounced dead at the scene. The coroner would conclude that Alice died of “catastrophic blood loss” as a result of her carotid artery being severed.

Harry Dhillon was arrested in a matter of hours back at his barracks in Edinburgh. At first he told the arresting officers he had no knowledge of Alice’s death, but the evidence against him was overwhelming.

Harry Dhillon Is Put On Trial

As it turned out, Harry had been sitting in his car outside of Alice’s flat on the afternoon of Oct. 12, waiting for Alice to return home from work. As he sat there, he was messaging a girl on Tinder, arranging to meet for casual sex that evening.

Between the last text Alice sent Mike at 6:04pm, and Maxine finding her body at 6:30pm, Harry murdered Alice. He then fled, with Alice’s phone and the knife, back to Edinburgh. Once there, he discarded the knife.

It was not difficult for detectives to come to the conclusion that Harry was guilty of Alice’s murder: his phone records put him in Gateshead at the time she was killed. They discovered Alice’s blood on his steering wheel. Not to mention his dangerous and obsessive behavior in the months leading up to the murder.

Early on Thursday, Oct. 13, Harry was arrested. The following day, he was charged with murder.

At his trial, Harry took the stand for two days. During his testimony, he lied that Alice attacked him with the knife and they ended up struggling. He asserted that Alice accidentally stabbed herself in the neck as he was trying to pry the knife away from her. The account Harry gave was ridiculous, and the jury saw right through it.

Despite describing the death of the girl he supposedly loved so deeply, Harry was stony-faced and unemotional throughout the trial. He clearly felt no remorse. After deliberating for less than 2 hours, the jury found Harry Dhillon guilty of Alice’s murder.

During his sentencing, Judge Paul Sloan remarked:

"Not a shred of remorse have you shown from first to last - indeed you were concentrating so hard on getting your story right when giving evidence you forgot even to shed a crocodile tear."

The judge went on to describe the murder as an act of "utter barbarism".

In April 2017, Harry Dhillon was sentenced to life in prison, with a minimum of 22 years.

The Mistakes That Cost Alice Her Life

“We believe that her death was preventable. We find it difficult to comprehend that, although Alice described in her first phone call to the police that she was being stalked and provided ample evidence, the police and the army were unable to support and protect her.”
- Alice’s parents, later discussing what went wrong in the handling of their daughter’s case.

Here are some of the mistakes the police made in dealing with Alice’s reports of stalking:

When Alice first called the police on Oct. 1, they should not have given her the option of issuing a PIN or contacting a solicitor; they should have made the decision for her. Otherwise, they should have at least given her a recommendation as to which to choose. They needed to better explain what issuing a PIN actually meant - that it was really just a warning and did not carry any legal weight.
It was apparent that the Northumbria police never took Alice’s reports of stalking by Harry very seriously. If they did, surely they should have spoken with Harry directly to notify him that he was being issued with a PIN, instead of asking his army superior to notify him.
The Northumbria police should have told the Military Police and Police Scotland that Harry was being issued with a PIN notice.
Alice should never have been asked if she wanted Harry arrested. They should have made that decision for her, based on the information she had given them. A victim should never be put in such a position. This was a serious failing on the part of the police.
Despite the ample evidence of stalking Alice gave, the police treated her case as harassment rather than stalking. Harassment is classified as a less serious offence.

A major failure I have not mentioned yet was made on the part of the Army. During Harry Dhillon’s trial, it came out that the Army failed to record that Harry had a history of domestic assault.

In the fall of 2012, Harry had been in a relationship with an 18-year-old student named Eniko. He abused Eniko in the same way he would later abuse Alice - he was jealous and controlling, bringing her down with cruel comments about her appearance and interactions with other men. Eniko became isolated from her family and friends, as Alice had.

Eniko repeatedly tried to break off the relationship with Harry, but it was 2 years before she really managed to get him out of her life. Harry even proposed to her during this time, but it never amounted to anything. Once Harry realized things were really over and Eniko had moved on, he began stalking her. One day, he approached her and her new boyfriend in the street and began hurling insults.

“Is this who you are sleeping with? I cannot believe you would leave me for this. Why did you take my girlfriend away?” he fumed.

When Eniko told Harry she would call the police, he spat in her face and called her a bitch.

He was charged with assault, but after he agreed to accept a restraining order, the charge was dropped.

After Alice’s murder, Gateshead Community Safety Board carried out a domestic homicide review. The review concluded that Alice had been subjected to “significant stalking”.

“The perpetrator's willingness to travel provided an indication of the level of his obsessive behaviour that was overlooked. In addition, there was a lack of clarity about the roles and responsibilities of the Home Office, police and armed forces, which led to some confusion about how best to deal with the perpetrator.”
- Gateshead Community Safety Board

The review made 20 recommendations, including making it an offence to threaten to release intimate photos of an ex-partner.

In Oct. 2017, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) launched an investigation into the handling of Alice’s case by Northumbria Police. In Sept. 2018, the IOPC published their report, finding two cases of misconduct on the part of Northumbria Police. They concluded that one police constable failed to appropriately investigate Alice’s report of stalking. They also found that the police sergeant did not properly supervise the constable during the investigation. Both officers were disciplined:

“After Northumbria police agreed with our findings, both officers were dealt with via management action in the form of words of advice, and further training to develop their awareness when dealing with stalking and harassment.”

Northumbria Police have since apologized to Alice’s family for their failures in handling her case.

Aftermath Of Alice’s Murder

The Ruggles family established the Alice Ruggles Trust, with the key question in mind: “If another Alice presented herself to the police today, would the outcome be any different?”

The Alice Ruggles Trust has been working to support police forces in implementing procedural change and updating training for front-line officers. Most have stopped using PINs.

Assistant Chief Constable of the Northumbria Police, Rachel Bacon, has been vocal in her praise of the Alice Ruggles Trust and how they (the Northumbria Police) have worked together to bring about improvements in dealing with cases of stalking and harassment. She said regarding the improvements they are making:

"The onus for making an arrest should never be placed on the victim. I am absolutely committed to ensuring we have a ‘victim focused’ culture embedded across Northumbria Police. What I mean by that is, we must recognise someone who is vulnerable may not be the best placed to make a decision over what is the best course to take, and when it is right to do so that must not stop us pursuing appropriate action. Our number one priority is to protect those in our communities who are vulnerable and we are committed to ensuring we continue to improve how we deal with these types of offences."

In the UK, stalking did not become a standalone offence until 2012. Before that, stalking was classified as the less serious offence of harassment. Even once stalking was classified as an offence in itself, the Home Office only began collating police force stalking statistics in 2014-15.

The Stalking Protection Act became law in 2019 with the purpose of “creating a new civil stalking protection order to protect members of the public from risks associated with stalking.” You can read more about the act here.

Alice’s funeral was held on Nov. 7, 2016, at St. Andrews Church in Tur Langton, Leicestershire.

Her murder left her friends, family and coworkers devastated. In a statement put out by the Ruggles family, they described Alice as “kind, clever and beautiful”.

“We are struggling to come to terms with the fact that she is not with us anymore. She loved life, loved her friends and loved her job. She had so much to live for. Nothing, nothing can ever replace her.”
- Statement from the Ruggles family