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Scottish Sun
6 days ago
- Scottish Sun
I was stalked & attacked by a man who didn't fit the ‘profile' – he was good looking with a good job & a girlfriend
Read on to see how Leigh escaped her attacker FIGHT BACK I was stalked & attacked by a man who didn't fit the 'profile' – he was good looking with a good job & a girlfriend Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) WHEN Leigh Collins was woken up to her dogs barking in the middle of the night, she assumed it was her ex-boyfriend messing around. It was 3am and as Leigh sat down on the couch to calm her dogs, she noticed a dark figure lurking in the hallway. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 3 Leigh Collins woke up at night to find a random man in her house, weilding her kitchen knife Credit: from now on podcast/youtube 3 Rashad Devon Harris, broke into Leigh's apartment, police suspect he stalked her for years Credit: Santa Monica police "I saw a silhouetted figure just kind of peek in and then peek out," she explains. "Which is a nightmare, then it was like my brain started convincing myself that it was my ex-boyfriend. "He had a key, we had gotten into a fight that day and so I was talking myself out of it being what it was." Trying to convince herself the situation wasn't as bad as it seemed, she decided to look around each room in the apartment. Leigh checked the hallway, the front room, and dining room and found nothing. But as she walked to the kitchen, she found a man pressed against the wall holding one of her kitchen knives. Speaking on the From Now On podcast, Leigh said an inner voice took over telling her what to do. She stood and stared at the attacker, making sure to get every detail of what he looked like before she made a run for her escape. But he soon caught up with her in the living room and held her against the wall with a knife asking for money. Leigh recalled how he was acting tense, and asked if she had a boyfriend coming back, she lied and said yes. The attacker quickly called her bluff and relaxed, knowing no one was going to disturb him. He walked Leigh over to her bedroom, somewhere she knew she didn't want to be with him, so she told him cash was in the guest bedroom. 3 Now, Leigh shares the warning signs to look out for Credit: from now on podcast/youtube Sexual abuse in numbers 669,000 adults are sexually assaulted in England and Wales every year 1 in 5 women (8m) in the UK have been sexually abused 1 in 6 men (5m) in the UK have been sexually abused 1 in 20 children in the UK have been sexually abused Sexual abuse has been attributed to: 15% of all suicides in the UK 11% of all common mental health disorders in the UK 7% of alcohol dependence disorders 10% of drug dependence disorders 15% of eating disorders 17% of post-traumatic stress disorders (Source: Safeline) Once she handed the money over, he asked what else she had to offer, and she realised he wasn't there for a robbery. He soon took her to the bedroom again and began to sexually assault her, Leigh says her life and her future played like a film in her mind. She added: "You know people say when you're in a near-death experience that you'll have a flash of your life, mine was a flash to my future. "I think it was my brain's way to show me I had something to fight for." The intruder then climbed onto the bed with Leigh and she could tell he was enjoying her fear, as he moved closer, he took the knife off her throat and she saw it as her opportunity to fight back. FIGHTING BACK First she screamed for help, before he straddled her and began beating her and trying to stab her. Leigh hit back, and she was able to get her legs from underneath him and kick him off the bed. She soon noticed some of her fingers were almost cut off from her hand and her energy soon shifted to rage as she saw the damage he had done. Screaming, she beat him and told him she would kill him unless he got out the house. I wanted to share some qualities about him that I found surprising and also say, always trust your intuition. Leigh Collins While he initially fought back, he soon got up and fled and Leigh was able to call the police for help. Three days later, Rashad Devon Harris, was arrested, and police discovered he had been stalking Leigh for years. Last year, Rashad was sentenced to life in prison and Leigh, who has made a full recovery from her injuries, advocates for victims on social media. HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT In a recent clip, she warned women to be careful and to trust their gut instinct, claiming her intruder didn't follow the usual stereotypes of this type of criminal activity. She said: "I wanted to share some qualities about him that I found surprising and also say, always trust your intuition. I don't remember meeting the man who stalked me, but I know I must have." Leigh first said that unlike most people who commit sexually motivated crimes, he was good-looking, had a girlfriend, a good job and even a support network of family and friends. "He was hiding in plain sight," she added. "These guys can compartmentalize and they're incredibly manipulative." Leigh went on to say that you should always pay attention to your intuition, rather than what the typical archetype is for dangerous people. "I could feel the emptiness from him. And it scared me. Not just from the way he behaved, not just from his eyes or the way he looked," she explained. "The feeling of him was that there was a shell and inside there was nothing. if you get a feeling like that from someone, that chill up and down your spine, pay attention to that. "More than paying attention to what the typical archetype of someone like this is."
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Giles Martin on AI plans: 'It's like saying you can burgle my house unless I ask you not to'
Giles Martin on AI plans: 'It's like saying you can burgle my house unless I ask you not to' Producer Giles Martin has said plans to allow AI firms to use artists' work without permission, unless creators opt out, is like criminals being given free rein to burgle houses unless they are specifically told not to. Martin, who is the son of Beatles producer George Martin and worked with Sir Paul McCartney on the Get Back documentary series and the 2023 Beatles track Now And Then, spoke to Sky News at a UK Music protest at Westminster coinciding with a parliamentary debate on the issue. Under the plans, an exemption to copyright would be created for training artificial intelligence (AI), so tech firms would not need a licence to use copyrighted material - rather, creators would need to opt out to prevent their work from being used. Creatives say if anything it should be opt-in rather than out, and are calling on the government to scrap the proposals and stop AI developers "stealing" their work "without payment or permission". ADVERTISEMENT "If you create something unique it should be unique to you," says Martin. "It shouldn't be able to be harvested and then used by other people. Or if it is, it should be with your permission... it shouldn't be up to governments or big tech." Sir Elton John and Simon Cowell are among the celebrities who have backed a campaign opposing the proposals, and Sir Paul has also spoken out against them. "This is about young artists," says Martin. "If a young Paul McCartney at the age of 20 or 22 wrote Yesterday, now... big tech would almost be able to harvest that song and use it for their own means. It doesn't make any sense, this ruling of opting out - where essentially it's like saying, 'you can burgle my house unless I ask you not to'." 'I'm not anti-AI - it's a question of permission' The Beatles' track Now And Then was written and recorded by John Lennon in New York in the late 1970s, and AI was used to extract his vocals for the 2023 release. The Get Back documentary also used audio restoration technology, allowing music and vocals to be isolated. ADVERTISEMENT "I'm not anti [AI], I'm not saying we should go back to writing on scribes," Martin said. "But I do think that it's a question of artist's permission." Using AI to "excavate" Lennon's voice was with the permission of the late singer's estate, he said, and is "different from me getting a 3D printer to make a John Lennon". He added: "The idea of, for example, whoever your favourite artist is - the future is, you get home from work and they'll sing you a song, especially designed for you, by that artist, by that voice. And it'll make you feel better because AI will know how you're feeling at that time. That's maybe a reality. Whoever that artist is, they should probably have a say in that voice." Read more: Authors 'absolutely sick' to discover books in 'shadow library' AI tool could be game-changer in battle against Alzheimer's Crispin Hunt, of 1990s band The Longpigs, who also attended the protest, said "all technology needs some kind of oversight". ADVERTISEMENT "If you remove the ability for the world to make a living out of creativity, or if you devalue creativity to such an extent that that it becomes a hobby and worthless to do, then humanity in life will be far less rich because it's art and culture that makes life richer," he said. "And that's why the companies want it for free." The Data (Use and Access) Bill primarily covers data-sharing agreements, but transparency safeguards were removed at committee stage. Critics say changes need to be made to ensure that companies training generative AI models disclose whether work by a human creator has been used and protect creatives under existing copyright rules. In February, more than 1,000 artists and musicians including Kate Bush, Damon Albarn, Sam Fender and Annie Lennox released a silent album in protest at the proposed changes. At that time, a government spokesperson said the UK's current rules were "holding back the creative industries, media and AI sector from realising their full potential - and that cannot continue". The spokesperson said they were consulting on proposals that better protect the "interests of both AI developers and right holders" and to deliver a solution "which allows both to thrive".
