Woman's 'bizarre' 20-minute first date with Tinder predator was just the start

A woman's 20-minute Tinder date in 2018 allegedly escalated into prolonged harassment that left her suicidal, with claims that Police Scotland dismissed her pleas for help despite recorded threats - potentially allowing a predator to continue targeting others, including a later rape victim. In a BBC Disclosure podcast, the sports massage therapist details how Christopher Harkins' charming profile masked a volatile temper, in a case that highlights alleged gaps in handling early reports of online abuse.

The meeting took place in Harkins' sparsely furnished Cumbernauld flat, where the living room contained only a television balanced on cardboard boxes. After she spilled a Diet Coke, she said: "It was as if he had an internal man tantrum. He looked at me as if, 'who do you think you are? Why are you pouring yourself a drink?'" She fled the scene after just 20 minutes, she said: "I was terrified. I thought he was going to follow me out. I jumped in my car, I locked the doors and that was it."

The ordeal did not end there. Over the following year, Harkins allegedly bombarded her with hundreds of abusive messages, calling her a "fat cow" and "catfish" over her appearance. She said: "I got messages saying I was a fat cow. I was a catfish. I looked like a pig. I wore too much make-up. That continued all through the night. I cried that much I got a headache."

The threats intensified, including vows to petrol-bomb her home and assault her father, which she captured in a recording. The next day, she reported the matter to Police Scotland, but alleges she was turned away without a statement being taken. She said: "I was told nothing could be done for me. They did not want to help me. I was screaming from the roof, 'I can't have this, you don't know what he's capable of, he's threatening me.'"

The harassment, she claims, shattered her confidence, rebuilt after previous personal challenges, and pushed her to the edge. She said: "The frame of mind he put me in, if I didn't have my daughter, I would have ended my life." Just two months after her escape, Harkins raped another woman - an incident she believes might have been averted with earlier intervention.

Then woman said: "That lassie could have been totally saved. He could have been arrested and she would never have had an interaction with him. Vile. That's all I can say about that. It's disgusting."

Harkins, 38, from Glasgow, was sentenced to 12 years in prison in July 2024 at the High Court in Kilmarnock after pleading guilty to 11 counts of fraud, having swindled more than £214,000 from nine women through fake holiday and investment scams between 2013 and 2019.

In May 2024, a jury convicted him of eight additional charges, including rape, assaults, stalking and voyeurism, against 10 victims in total across central Scotland.

He must serve at least eight years, remain on the sex offenders' register indefinitely, and is subject to non-harassment orders prohibiting contact with survivors.

A 2019 media investigation prompted Police Scotland's Domestic Abuse Task Force to launch a full probe, but the BBC podcast alleges at least 11 women had reported Harkins since 2012, with complaints handled separately as civil financial matters lacking evidence of violence. Detective Chief Inspector Lyndsay Laird said: "Each one was reported at different stages.

"There was no reports of physical or sexual abuse ever made to the police at that time." The force has issued an apology for any shortcomings in its response and pledged to enhance information-sharing protocols.

The woman said: "If they'd have done something then, then a lot of things could have been done for the girls that were after me."

Now a mother of two, she has rebuilt her life with renewed resilience. She said: "I'm so good now. It's a totally different me and so much more confident. I'm not afraid to speak up and I will never ignore a red flag again."

She praised the courage of other survivors, saying: "Those women achieved more than what you think. Now all these other people that could have met him in future don't need to. What they did was just amazing - huge."