Notorious stalker killer 'tried to return to India' to serve life for Alice Ruggles murder

Notorious stalker killer 'tried to return to India' to serve life for Alice Ruggles murder EXCLUSIVE: The worried parents of Alice Ruggles revealed they had to wait three years to confirm that her killer, Trimaan Dhillon, could not "go back home" to serve his life term One of Britain's most notorious stalker killers tried to return to India to serve his life sentence. The worried parents of Alice Ruggles told how they had to wait three years to confirm that Trimaan Dhillon would not 'go back home'. Professor Clive Ruggles and his wife, Dr Sue Hills, a maths teacher, were concerned that if Dhillon returned to India, he might secure an early release - and return to carry out a revenge attack on other family members, including Alice's sister Emma. Just five days before he slit her throat, Alice, 24, told Dhillon: "Ex-boyfriends end up killing their girlfriends. I don't want to die. I want to live." To see more of the stories you love from The Mirror and to find them easily in Google then make us your preferred source. Free and easy-to-do, just click on the link here to find more from The Mirror at the top of your feed. Dhillon, a 6ft tall, 12.5st soldier, travelled more than 120 miles from his barracks in Edinburgh to her home in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear. He arrived on October 12, 2016, defying an order preventing him from contacting her, to murder petite 5'2'' tall Alice, shamelessly claiming at trial that he had acted in self-defence after Alice attacked him. Clive, 74, and Sue, 65, who live near Leicester, told the Mirror that he has never expressed any remorse in the decade since he killed their daughter. Instead, he tried to be transferred to India to serve his life sentence - and very nearly succeeded. He applied for the transfer in June 2020, but Clive did not find out until the UK Government was considering a decision on the move. It was finally rejected in June, 2023. Government sources stressed that "all factors" were considered in a prisoner transfer application, including the seriousness of the offending, the sentence imposed, and concerns raised by victims or their family. Those factors are taken into account in all Prisoner Transfer agreements, regardless of prison capacity pressure. The removal of foreign nationals is up 36% with nearly 10,000 returned since the Government came into office. Alice's parents have campaigned tirelessly for the past 10 years to warn of the dangers of stalking, which led to Dhillon murdering Alice in the bathroom of her flat. They fear that because he has shown so little remorse, Dhillon could be a danger to their family and try to exact revenge for the evidence they gave against him. Clive said: "We discovered his application to be transferred to India had been approved. We had to communicate with the Minister to ensure they did not permit it. It took 18 months but we finally received a letter stating it had not been permitted. Every year we get an update from a liaison officer. My fear was always that this whole process would go through without us knowing about it. "There was another case in Scotland and the victim did not find out until they were told the perpetrator had gone back to their native country. I am assured that we would find out if he applied again, but it is a huge fear. I can't believe that he has changed at all and he is out for revenge, which would mean that our entire family would be in danger." Sue, who still teaches privately, added: "He had already threatened our other daughter before he murdered Alice - he still poses that risk. He has never admitted responsibility for what he did. We thought he would at least pretend to have some regret. He has not even done that. It makes it easier that you don't have to worry about forgiving him." The 10th anniversary of Alice's murder is a reminder of what they have lost. Sue said: "You see all her friends having milestones like children, and marriages and you think of all the milestones that Alice will never have. "No one understood what was going on; the police did not understand what was going on. Only Alice's sister and a friend really knew about it. It was not just the police, it was everybody. If the police got it right, the CPS may not get it right, maybe judges may not get it right, and maybe juries would not get it. And so we went into schools to teach about this, to get it into every area." They recognise the 'warning signs' of an obsessive stalker now, but they lacked that awareness before the horrific attack on their daughter. Sue added: "I did know about him going to the house and leaving flowers. She had called the police. He (Dhillon) said, 'I am not going to kill you,' which is a very strange thing to say to anyone. Even then I did not see it as a threat, which I know sounds ridiculous. But you don't think that such bad things are going to happen to you. You don't want to exaggerate." Clive admitted the 'downside' of campaigning is the focus on the end of Alice's life. He said: "We have a video of anecdotes from her job, and we get that out and look at it at this time of year. Having one of Alice's school friends, Lucy Parkinson, complete an incredible challenge in her memory reminds us of what Alice was like. "We are trying to make sure that if it happens again people get the right response and also when you raise awareness, to ensure that people like Alice get help sooner. It is a huge problem; there are two million people in England and Wales being stalked at any time, a disproportionate number are under 25. But there is the wider problem regarding how serious and important it is to reach people as young as possible." Research commissioned by the Suzy Lamplugh Trust in the wake of Alice's death, was conducted by Professor Jane Monckton-Smith. A specialist in homicide, stalking and coercive control, she looked into the murders by men of 358 women over three years, and found that 94 per cent involved stalking. The research was concluded in 2017. By 2025, the Trust found that around 1.4m over-16s were victims of stalking. Clive has just met with Government officials to discuss life sentencing and is calling for foreign prisoners to be unable to move abroad to serve their life terms. He said: "You cannot have prisoner exchanges in a situation where the sentence is life imprisonment for murder. You cannot do that - it is a minimum tariff. "At the end of that, we have the right to give a victim statement as part of our system of British law which protects us. You cannot send a man who is serving 22 years for murder to another country, it cannot be right." They set up the Alice Ruggles Trust to warn of the dangers of stalking, and volunteers teach schoolchildren about the warning signs. Both go into schools to meet pupils. They have also helped change police officer training to highlight the need to protect stalking victims. A Government spokesperson said: “Our thoughts are with Alice’s loved ones on the 10th anniversary of her horrific murder. We must use every lever available to tackle violence against women and girls, moving further and faster to stop harm before it happens. “We are strengthening the use of Stalking Protection Orders, investing over £13m to establish specialist protection order teams. Last year we appointed Richard Wright KC, who prosecuted Alice's case, to conduct an independent review to ensure the law is fit for purpose.” More than £1billion is being invested in victim support over the next three years, including £550 million for victim services. The Government has placed domestic abuse specialists in 999 control rooms in the first 17 police forces to support frontline responders. It is also rolling out Domestic Abuse Protection Orders, put in place to safeguard victims.