Lily Allen recounts stalking horror

Singer Lily Allen is "practically a hermit now" after living in fear for years due to stalker harassment.

The 30-year-old mother-of-two was shadowed by a man named Alex Gray since 2009 - the torment began with tweets, letters and threats before escalating into a full-on home invasion last year (15).

And after spending nearly a decade worried about the safety of herself and loved ones, Allen admits the anxiety still hasn't let up.

"It has affected how I live my life," she tells U.K. newspaper The Observer. "I'm very wary, I have trust issues. It impacts on your relationships, everything. I'm practically a hermit now! If I hear a bang, every little noise makes me start. I see his face in people in the street."

Last October (15), Allen forgot to lock her kitchen door and then later in the middle of the night while she was sleeping, The Fear hitmaker suffered her worst nightmare.

"I sat up and looked and the door handle was twisting round," she recalls with horror. "This guy came steaming in and I didn't know who he was. I recoiled and he ripped the duvet off, calling me a 'f**king b**ch' and yelling about where his dad is."

Her handbag was also stolen that evening and later it was discovered Gray was the perpetrator of the terrifying crime. He was arrested and while in custody, the stalker told police he intended to stick a knife through Allen's face. Although Gray was convicted of burglary and harassment this month (Apr16), Allen is not impressed with how the police responded to the situation - she feels authorities ignored all the evidence of stalking she had been submitting to them over the years.

"I wrote to the police and asked why they weren't using these letters going back to 2009, and then I got a short note saying they had been destroyed 'according to police protocol'. No apology, no explanation," she shares. "It was not special attention I looked for. It was reassurance and validation. The police made me feel like a nuisance, rather than a victim.

"I feel lucky I had resources to protect myself, I could move house, get a lawyer, but if you don't have that money, how much more terrifying must it be?

"I want some answers from the police. I'm a famous person and had the inclination to push things. If they treat me like this, how the hell are they going to treat someone else without those resources, without clout?"