AN award-winning author has called for a shake-up of the legal system after her former lover walked free from court for a second time over stalking charges due to mental health issues.

Janice Galloway, the author of novels such as The Trick is to Keep Breathing, Foreign Parts and Blood, said the human rights of the victim need to become more entrenched in Scots Law.

Concert pianist Graeme McNaught, 55, was freed with no order imposed after being acquitted of stalking on the grounds of insanity.

Miss Galloway now lives with CCTV at her home installed by police.

She said: "The legal flaw already under examination by the Scottish Government... persists. For me and my family, who have endured isolating and highly pervasive inroads into every aspect of our lives for almost two decades, we must wait and see.

"In the meantime, I may rely upon the Domestic Abuse Unit, whose remedies for an offender of this type may continue to be surrounded by ill-fitting protocols ad infinitum.

"Perhaps there is an expectation I must endure more of the same as a matter of course. To uphold one person's - in this case, the perpetrator's - human rights to the total exclusion of the victim's, however, is simply unjust.

"Mental illness or lack of it should not be the sole determiner of outcomes: the vast majority of people suffering from mental illnesses never offend.

She added: "This outcome continues to lock out victims, their testimony and their experience afresh - this time to the point of invisibility."

Anti-stalking campaigners have backed demands for a re-examination of the justice system saying courts should have the option to issue non-harassment order in certain cases even if there is no conviction.

Ms Galloway is frustrated by last month's decision, six months after Mr McNaught failed to be convicted of harassment because of mental health issues. The decision followed an examination of him by two psychiatrists.

The former Royal Conservatoire of Scotland lecturer was found to have carried out the acts after an examination of facts hearing at Hamilton Sheriff Court. He was not convicted of any offence and faced no court-imposed orders.

He was not considered suitable for a supervision and treatment order because psychiatric staff did not recommend it as he was responding to voluntary treatment.

Mr McNaught later told The Herald he had visited soon after that case concluded to deliver a brown envelope containing a pink A4 sheet "offering friendship" and then left in a taxi.

The incident which the court heard included claims he had 'fizzy wine' to drink and share. It formed the basis of one of the allegations against him.

In the latest case, Sheriff Marie Smart decided not to make any order against Mr McNaught and allowed him to return home after hearing he had again responded well to treatment. He had been held at a psychiatric unit and ordered to return to court for a sheriff to rule on further medical treatment for him.

The latest trial had heard Miss Galloway, 59, of Uddingston, South Lanarkshire, say she had felt "suicidal" as Mr McNaught repeatedly tried to contact her.

Miss Galloway and Mr McNaught, of Mount Vernon, Glasgow, had a six year on-off relationship during which they had a son.

He had lodged a special defence at the start of the trial that he was not criminally responsible for the alleged incidents of October last year because he was suffering a mental health condition. He was acquitted on the grounds of insanity.

Ann Moulds of Action Scotland Against Stalking, who fought to change anti-stalking laws, said: "My concern is that in upholding his human rights it has been to the exclusion of Janice's human rights because that is not justice," she said. "If he is unfit why was there not a treatment order."

In the October case as an examination of facts is not considered to be a conviction is understood the court felt there were then no powers to issue a non-harassment order.

The court had to obtain two psychiatric reports and a mental health officer's assessment none of which recommended any order.

A Crown Office spokesman said: "This was a complex case. The victim was stalked by someone who at the time of the offence was deemed to be mentally unfit.

"The Crown appreciates the serious impact stalking can have on victims and our prosecutors have undergone specialist training to help them recognise both the dynamics of stalking and how it can affect those who are targeted.

"Anyone who has been a victim of this type of crime or heard a victim's account will recognise the need to address stalking as a distinct offence with its own characteristics.

"The Crown has a robust prosecution policy in relation to this crime and we would encourage anyone who has been a victim to report the matter to police knowing it will be dealt with sensitively and investigated thoroughly."