REAL CRIME: Murder at Harvey Nicks
Real Crime: Murder at Harvey Nicks
Published: Friday, 9 January 2009, 4:20PM
ITV1, 10.35pm, Monday 28 March 2011 (originally broadcast on Monday 28 April 2008)
On the 13th September 2005 22-year-old beauty consultant Clare Bernal was gunned down as she worked behind the counter in Knightsbridge department store Harvey Nichols.
Her killer was a man who had become obsessed with her after she dated him for just three weeks.
Shocking statistics have revealed that one in five women is stalked in their lifetime and 1.2 million people are stalked every year – more than half by an ex-partner.
Presented by Mark Austin, Real Crime: Murder at Harvey Nicks examines the case of Clare and her stalker-turned-killer Michal Pech.
Clare’s mum, Tricia, talks to the programme about her daughter and her relationship with Pech and describes how his love for her turned into a dangerous obsession which left her terrified.
Using reconstructions and extracts from statements Clare gave to police and Harvey Nichols, the documentary tells the story of the boyfriend who turned into a cold-blooded killer.
Clare, from Tunbridge Wells, Kent, moved to London to start her career as a beauty consultant at the store and, after a year of working there, met Pech, a Slovakian who had just been employed as a security guard.
The pair dated for three weeks before Clare decided to end the relationship, telling her mum Pech was getting too serious, too soon.
But Tricia tells the documentary that military-trained Pech would not accept the relationship was over and began following Clare home and waiting outside her flat. In statements later given to the police, Clare described how Pech was also hounding her at work.
She said: “I have become increasingly worried and frightened by Michal’s behaviour towards me both at work and outside of work.
“At work Michal has constantly approached my counter whilst both on duty and pestered me to rekindle the relationship.
“I have often seen him nearby just staring at me and on some occasions I feel like he is using nearby mirrors to observe me.“
Forensic Psychiatrist Dr David James describes to the film how some people can become obsessed when a relationship ends and can turn into dangerous stalkers.
He says: “People often get very upset when relationships break-up and it’s not uncommon for people to plead for their partner to take them back. Most people don’t continue that behaviour for more than a week or two, some people continue it after that period, often for many months and those are the people that we would call stalkers.
“When someone is rejected by a partner and responds by stalking them, they gain reward from any contact even if the person is telling them negative things such as they don’t want to see them again. It’s very important in such circumstances to avoid any form of contact with the stalker because this encourages them. What in effect happens is that the stalking contacts become a substitute for the previous relationship.”
Tricia tells the programme that after almost six weeks of harassing her daughter, Pech showed no signs of giving up, and was, in fact, getting worse.
One evening he followed her onto the tube and pushed her in the back as she walked along the platform to try to get away from him. When she threatened to report him to the police, Pech told Clare that he would kill her if she did.
Tricia says: “Clare phoned me up and she was crying down the phone and she said, ‘Mum I don’t know what to do. I don’t know whether to report him or not’, and I didn’t know what to do because he made it very clear: ‘You will report me, and I’ll kill you’. He was an ex military man, he was in the army, he knew how to use a gun and we just didn’t want to antagonise him.”
Clare reported Pech to Harvey Nichols and he was suspended. The beauty consultant and her flatmate then moved house to get away from him, but he still tracked her down. He was arrested and questioned by the police but released on bail with orders to stay away from Clare.
But he approached her once again so was arrested and charged with harassment. Pech was ordered to serve seven days in jail – but after that he was freed on bail until his trial on 31st August.
Using reconstructions the film shows the next crucial part of the story – that, while out on bail, Pech travelled home to Slovakia and bought a semi-automatic pistol which he smuggled back into the UK on a car ferry.
But, without this knowledge, Clare was to believe her ordeal would soon be over after Pech’s court case. His solicitor tells Real Crime: Murder at Harvey Nicks that he persuaded him to plead guilty to his charges on the 31st August.
Tricia tells the film: “She phoned me that afternoon and she sounded elated and she said, ‘Mum, now finally I can put the unpleasant episode to bed’. She said, ‘He’ll get a minimal sentence so there’s no reason at all why he should be angry towards me’.”
But Pech had been bailed until his sentencing in September and just days before, high on cocaine and armed with his pistol – he stormed into Harvey Nichols and shot Clare four times before turning the gun on himself.
Tricia tells the film that at the inquest she was determined to find out if more could have been done to prevent her daughter’s death. But the coroner concluded that the police were not to blame and the murder could not have been anticipated.
Now Tricia, and two other mums whose daughters were killed by stalkers, have joined forces to raise awareness of stalking.
Tricia says: “Since Claire I’ve learnt about another world that we live in and I’ve been cocooned as to and I have cocooned my children, wrapped them in cotton wool and it’s my deepest regret that I trusted the system to look after Claire.
“The reason that we are all doing this is that we truly believe we can save lives. We all feel that we are carrying on our daughter’s battle and nothing will stop us doing that. That’s the thing that matters now.”
Tricia Bernal has helped to establish a registered charity called Protection against Stalking - www.Protectionagainststalking.org
www.Protectionagainststalking.org aims to increase awareness of stalking and harassment and seeks improvements to training relating to stalking and harassment. The charity offers training to all services that have to deal with victims of stalking particularly the Police and CPS.
The National Stalking Helpline (www.stalkinghelpline.org) was launched on the 20th April 2010 and can be contacted by victims seeking help and advice on 0300 636 0300 weekdays between 0930 and 1600 hrs. Alternatively email advice@stalkinghelpline.org