We’d like to thank the National Autistic Society and Autism Rights Group Highland for their help and advice on this series.If you need any support around stalking and harassment, you can get in touch with the Suzy Lamplugh Trust or call the National Stalking Helpline on 08.Subscribe to Can I Tell You a Secret? on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Since making this podcast, Matthew has been granted permission to appeal against his sentence. Donna shares her perspective on why she thinks Matthew stalked women online. Sirin learns that Donna felt she struggled to get the right support when Matthew was diagnosed autistic and also with a learning disability. Donna tells Sirin about Matthew’s childhood, his difficulties with fitting in at school, and his increased isolation in adulthood. In episode five, Sirin meets Donna, Matthew’s mother. His harassment would often start in the same way, with a fake profile posing as a young woman asking a simple question: “Hey hun, can I tell you a secret?” This series attempts to untangle his web of deception to find out how and why he wreaked havoc over so many people’s lives. In this new six-episode podcast, Guardian journalist Sirin Kale investigates the story of Matthew Hardy, a cyberstalker who terrified people in his hometown and beyond for over a decade.
