VIC: Seekers fan appeals against stalking conviction

AAP General News (Australia)
12-08-1998
VIC: Seekers fan appeals against stalking conviction

By Stuart Walsh

MELBOURNE, Dec 8 AAP - A woman described as an obsessed fan of Seekers star Judith Durham
today began a County Court appeal against two convictions for stalking her.

Barrister Nick Papas told the court his client, Margaret Dahlstrom, 45, had never intended
to cause harm to Ms Durham by sending 41 doormats and numerous fax messages to her.

Crown prosecutor Boris Kayser said Dahlstrom knew or ought to have known her conduct would
have been likely to cause mental harm, arouse apprehension or fear for her (Ms Durham's)
safety.

Ms Durham considered herself the victim of an obsessed campaign that had caused her
considerable distress.

An earlier hearing was told that Dahlstrom, a former president of the Judith Durham fan
club, had harassed the singer for five years, including sending the doormats to her Melbourne
apartment and following her to London.

Dahlstrom, of the suburban South Yarra, had claimed Ms Durham had treated her as a doormat.

Ms Durham told the court that Dahlstrom had been a fan of hers since she was 16 and that
from the mid-80s until 1992, she had helped Dahlstrom to promote concerts in which she
appeared.

However, there was a dispute over finances and she eventually asked Dahlstrom not to
promote any more shows.

"I had completely lost trust in her because I realised she had lied to me and the business
relationship had to be severed," said Ms Durham."

She told the court that she felt that Dahlstrom's actions in sending faxes and the doormats
was intrusive and that her privacy had been invaded.

The appeal, before Judge Stuart Campbell, continues tomorrow.

AAP sew/er/it

KEYWORD: DURHAM

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