nadiaa 34-year-old sports masseuse met christopher harkins in 2018 through the dating app Tinder.
After exchanging messages for a few weeks, she agreed to have dinner with him in Glasgow, Scotland. But when she arrived at the apartment, she noticed the first red flag. The man, dressed in sportswear, greeted her, told her he was “too tired” to go out and suggested she stay home.
“The place was empty, no furniture, just a TV propped up on a box,” he told the BBC.
When he refused a vodka shot and asked for a soda, Harkins completely changed his attitude.“He started belittling me, insulting me and shouting at me. That’s when I decided to break up.”
He thought it would all end there, But that momentary encounter became the beginning of hell..
That same night, Harkins began flooding her with calls and messages. “How can you make me stand up?”was the first. Then came threats to set her house on fire, kill her father, and torment her.
He insulted her, attacked her appearance, and humiliated her for hours. “I cried until dawn. it destroyed my self esteem” Nadia recalled.
The next day, he reported the harassment, which included recordings of him threatening to beat his father, to Police Scotland. However, the authorities took no action.
“They told me there was nothing they could do. That it wasn’t a direct threat. I screamed desperately but they didn’t try to help me,” she said.
A BBC investigation revealed At least 11 women have tried to accuse Harkins of physical assault, fraud and abuse since 2012.. However, as Police Scotland themselves admitted, the charges were treated as “an isolated incident”.
It wasn’t until 2024, more than a decade after the initial accusations, that the predator was arrested.
Meanwhile, Harkins scammed women in Scotland and London, Over 214,000 pounds (approx. $282,000) Through financial deception, false travel, and identity theft.
he was eventually convicted 12 years in prison for 19 crimes against 10 women.
Nadia believes that the police could have prevented the suffering of many victims. “If they had listened to me, other women probably wouldn’t have gone through the same thing. One woman was raped just two months after I met him.”he lamented.
Detective Chief Inspector Lindsay Laird, who worked on the case, admitted to the BBC that the initial reports had been mishandled, saying: “They were recorded by different departments and at different times and were not treated as a pattern of abuse.”
Police say protocols have changed today, but victims are demanding a formal apology for the lack of action.
Currently, Nadia is a mother of two daughters. he managed to rebuild his life. “I feel good. I’m a different person. I don’t ignore the warning signs anymore,” he said.
This story was shared by the protagonist on a BBC podcast Matched with Predator.
For Predator, add More than 30 victims identifiedrestarted the debate on the responsibility of dating platforms and the need for faster protocols in the face of complaints of digital and gender violence.
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