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After Lily Allen opened up about her terrifying experience with a stalker who broke into her and her husband's home after a seven-year ordeal, now his mother has spoken out about his battles with mental health issues.
This week saw Allen give a full and frank interview about her stalker, in which she told The Observer how Andrew Gray set up a Twitter account using the handle @lilyallenRIP to claim that he had written her song, ‘The Fear’ - kicking off a long run of harassment that started back in 2009.
This was swiftly followed by "letters, abusive rants, accusations and suicide threats,” as the man began approaching Allen’s assistant and other colleagues. He even stole her handbag, threatened to stab her in the face and at one point broke into her bedroom. He has since been jailed for burglary and harassment.
Gray, of Perth in Scotland, has been battling mental health issues for over 20 years. His mother Michelle has told The Daily Record of her many attempts to find him the help that he needed.
“The system has let everybody down," she said. “I’ve been trying to get Alex help for 20 years and at every corner I’ve been told I’m paranoid. He had psychiatrists at school saying nothing was wrong with him. I’ve tried sectioning him a couple of years ago but I’m not allowed because I live in Spain. They wouldn’t section him until they spoke to him first. The police didn’t want to get involved because it was a ‘domestic’ case.”
She continued: “He came out of a mental hospital down south and they phoned his sister and asked her if she would take charge of him for Christmas. Up to this point they had been forcing him to have injections for his psychological medication because Alex doesn’t believe anything is wrong with him because he has got an illness.
“But when he promised he’d take his medication they released him. This was Christmas 2014.”
Speaking of her life and feelings towards Gray after the ordeal, Allen said: "“Until he gets the right treatment and the right help he needs, then I’m not safe. “I’m not angry at Alex Gray. He has a mental illness. The system has failed him.
“You can throw the book at him, put him in jail, but he’ll still be coming out. And the victim is never safe.”
