What time is Stalked: Murder in Slow Motion on and what happened to Molly McLaren and her ex Joshua Stimpson?

MOLLY McLaren’s life was cut tragically short by her stalker ex-boyfriend Joshua Stimpson.

Her story is the subject of an episode of Channel 5 docuseries Stalked: Murder In Slow Motion.

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Who was Molly McLaren?

Molly McLaren was a 23-year-old student and barmaid who was brutally murdered by her ex-boyfriend in 2017.

She studied health and nutrition at the University of Kent, having battled bulimia and anxiety for a long period of her adult life.

Her loved ones set up a charity in her memory —  The Molly McLaren Foundation.

Its mission is to continue Molly’s work in raising awareness about eating disorders and support people who are suffering from such conditions.

On the Foundation’s website, her parents Joanne and Doug McLaren wrote: “Molly showed us as parents and family, and a lot of other people, how she overcame her demons.

“In Molly’s case she chose exercise and the study of nutrition as a means by which to confront her challenges.

“Ultimately, we are not defined by the challenges life throws at us, we are defined by how we face up to them.

“Molly confronted her demons head on. She tried to understand them and worked on a strategy that finally allowed her to be a winner.

“Inner strength and self-belief are key to winning battles. You must first believe in yourself, after that, anything is possible.

“Molly could not complete her final year at university but we, as parents, collected a Diploma on her behalf at Rochester Cathedral.

I looked at her and I thought ‘I don’t think there is anything else I can do. She isn’t going to survive this’

Benjamin MortonCourt testimony

“Her grades were with a distinction and, had she had the chance to finish her degree, in all likelihood, it would have been a first class honours award.

“Molly sought to help fellow-sufferers of eating disorders with her blogs and was a champion of positivity and self-belief.”

What happened to Molly McLaren?

PA:Press Association

On June 29, 2017, Molly had been working out at the gym when she was approached by her ex Joshua Stimpson, who had been stalking her after they split 12 days before.

The terrified student confronted her ex and asked if he was following her, before making her way back to her Citroen in Chatham Dockside Outlet car park.

She texted her mum Joanne at 10.45am writing “Mum he’s turned up at the gym and come next to me” before exchanging 20 messages with a pal about Stimpson’s concerning behaviour.

Molly had no idea her killer was laying in wait with a bag containing two knives and pickaxe, which he used to butcher her.

Once she was in the driver’s seat, Stimpson abandoned his vehicle, yanked open her door and launched a violent flurry of knife blows.

Molly tried to fight him off, screaming and beeping her horn, but she tragically died within minutes.

Dogwalker Benjamin Morton desperately tried to pull Stimpson off Molly as he hacked at her, but his hands kept slipping on blood.

He told Maidstone Crown Court: “I looked inside the car and I could see that she had her throat cut. He seemed determined to make sure she was dead.

“He wasn’t stabbing her, he was cutting at her throat at this point, just to make sure she would never come back.

“I looked at her and I thought ‘I don’t think there is anything else I can do. She isn’t going to survive this’.”

Stimpson cut through Molly’s jugular veins, major arteries and the bone in her neck.

there were so many knife wounds it was impossible to say exactly how many she had.

Who is Molly McLaren’s ex-boyfriend, Joshua Stimpson?

PA:Press Association

Warehouse worker Stimpson met Molly on Tinder and the couple dated for four months from November 2016, before they briefly split.

They got back together, with Molly finally ending the relationship for good on June 17, 2027 — just 12 days before she died.

But obsessed Stimpson began posting derogatory comments and photos about the part-time barmaid on Facebook.

These included lies about her using cocaine and he tagged people so that all her family could see.

Molly had told her mum before her death she had seen posts online from Stimpson after they broke up which said “there’s more to come”.

The pair were so concerned they circulated photos of him to neighbours and Molly reported the posts to police on June 22.

Two ex girlfriends told the court previously how Stimpson had stalked them after they split.

Alexandra Dale said he would follow her, take pictures of her, sent her a photo of her back garden and threatened to drown her.

While Leah Hubbard said he spat drink all over her in a nightclub after they split, then waited outside for hours for her to leave.

Police had warned Stimpson twice to stay away from Molly, and he was last spoken to by cops on June 27 — two days before he murdered her.

Kent Police reported itself to the Independent Police Complaints Commission after Molly’s death.

The brute was caged for life with a minimum of 26 years after jurors took less than three hours to convict him of murder.

Stimpson admitted manslaughter with diminished responsibility at Maidstone Crown Court, but jurors rejected his plea.

How to find out more about Molly McLaren’s murder

The tragic story of Molly’s murder is examined in the Channel 5 docuseries Stalker: Murder in Slow Motion.

The episode airs at 10pm on Tuesday, April 30, 2024.

It’s the first in a documentary series that explores the untimely deaths of young women killed by their stalker ex-partners.

Amy Lee, Molly’s best friend who features in the documentary, told KentOnline: “We decided to take part in the documentary in the hope that we could raise better awareness of cyber stalking and to highlight the dangers associated with it.

“With the rapid growth of technology there are some serious legislation changes that are needed to keep people safe and we hope that by highlighting those very dangers, that we can encourage more people to support them.”