Death-threat stalker was allowed to walk streets of Hull for months

A STALKER who threatened to kill a woman taxi driver was allowed to walk the streets for five months before being charged.

Lee Anthony Tanti, 47, sent chilling letters to the 24-year-old woman, threatening to slash her throat, after she drove him home one night while working for an east Hull taxi firm.

She immediately handed the first letter into the police on July 25 last year but claims she was told by officers at Bransholme Police Station the letter did not refer to her and her situation was not life-threatening.

Officers arrested Tanti the next day but released him on bail for five months and further letters were written by him.

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In one note, addressed to the woman and passed on to the taxi firm, Tanti wrote: "I have been a passenger in your taxi and sat right behind you in the back of your car.

"How easy it would have been for me to run my blade across your throat. Your time on this planet will end before you know it. Remember, you will never know who you are picking up late one night."

Tanti was not charged with making threats to kill until December.

He has now pleaded guilty at Hull Crown Court to making threats to kill the taxi driver.

A spokesman for the force said: "Humberside Police take cases of this nature extremely seriously and take every step available to ensure the safety of the public.

"In this particular case, the allegations were taken seriously from the outset and, indeed, a suspect was identified and arrested within hours of the offence being reported to Humberside Police.

"He was interviewed the same day. However, further extensive inquiries were required and, therefore, officers were lawfully required to release him on bail.

"The suspect was charged in December when all forensic and computer examinations had been concluded and he was then remanded in custody.

"The inquiry was conducted in a timely and expeditious manner and with a satisfactory conclusion at Hull Crown Court."

The victim says she lived in fear for months not knowing who the man was.

In her victim impact statement, the woman said: "Lee Tanti is a man I did not know until this investigation. His name petrifies me and makes my stomach turn.

"If I knew why or how he picked me, I might find it easier, but it feels like this man has gone out of his way to gather information about me, stalked me and intimidated me. "I am an emotional wreck. I wake up screaming, thinking he has found me and is going to kill me."

Tanti, of Clarence Court, Hull city centre, has been remanded in custody for psychiatric reports and will be sentenced in April.