HE was the Scottish soldier who had a history of offending against ex-partners who went from protecting the Royal family on visits to Scotland to being put in prison for life at Her Majesty’s pleasure.
Edinburgh-based signaller with the 2 Scots Lance Corporal Trimaan "Harry" Dhillon was jailed for life with a minimum term of 22 years in 2017 for murdering ex-girlfriend Alice Ruggles and leaving her to bleed to death in the bathroom of her flat in Tyneside in October, 2016.
Now police and army bosses have been criticised for a failure to properly address the Lance Corporal's jealous and obsessive behaviour in an official review and the victim's family.
This was echoed by her parents Sue and Clive who said: "We believe that her death was preventable.
"We find it difficult to comprehend that, although Alice described in her first phone call to the police that she was being stalked and provided ample evidence, the police and the army were unable to support and protect her."
A domestic homicide review, carried out by Gateshead Community Safety Board, concluded Miss Ruggles was subjected to "significant stalking" and that Army officials failed to record a previous domestic assault charge against Dhillon in Kent.
The review heard Miss Ruggles, who was originally from Tur Langton, near Market Harborough had contacted Northumbria Police about Dhillon's stalking in the days before her death.
In one a call handler asked Miss Ruggles if she wanted him to be arrested, but she declined. The review found police should have made that decision and it should not have been left to the victim.
A Northumbria Police officer contacted Dhillon's barracks in Edinburgh and spoke to a superior, but not Military Police or Police Scotland, and the soldier was then told to stop contacting her or face arrest.
But he ignored the warning from within the regiment, continued to contact her and eventually drove 120 miles to Tyneside slash the popular Sky employee's throat.
The report concluded: "The perpetrator's willingness to travel provided an indication of the level of his obsessive behaviour that was overlooked.
"In addition, there was a lack of clarity about the roles and responsibilities of the Home Office, police and armed forces, which led to some confusion about how best to deal with the perpetrator."
The review came as the family of Ms Ruggles also argued the Army could have done more to save her from Dhillon.
Gateshead Council's review made 20 recommendations for local authorities, the Home Office and the Ministry of Defence to act upon.
The soldier, who went by the name Harry, who served in Afghanistan, but the court herad that he lacked discipline when it came to women and that would be his downfall.
His first relationship was with Eniko Nemeth in 2012, who ended up getting a restraining order against him after she said he spat at her while confronting her in the street for finishing with him.
He was charged with common assault but it was dropped after he accepted the restraining order.
It was in the autumn of 2015 that the 6ft 1 signaller, with ambitions to join the reconnaissance arm of the SAS, saw a picture of Alice on Facebook, they made contact through a mutual friend and the fatal attraction began.
Miss Ruggles's sister Emma, herself a serving soldier, said she was "frustrated" by the Army's response to the murder.
She has had no contact from Dhillon's unit, no response to questions she posed to the Royal Military Police nor a sense that lessons had been learned.
She said: "Similar situations need to be taken far more seriously in the future by both the police and the Army.
"Failure to do so would show a blatant lack of regard for my sister, the nightmare she lived in her last few months and the sustained, painful, violent last few minutes of her life."
The DHR has recommended that it becomes an offence to threaten to release intimate photos of an ex-partner, as Dhillon had done once Ms Ruggles had called off their relationship.
After the review publication, Ms Ruggles' mother said: "We can't do anything to save Alice now, but it is so important that what happened to her does not happen to anyone else.So they need to change the things that couldn't save her so that when the next Alice comes along the situation is going to be different.
"We think the police are well along the route for making the right changes but there's still some things that are a problem. So we need to have somebody look more at the digital stalking and there needs to be much more information about that for young people so that they know how to avoid that sort of thing.
"But I think the thing that really strikes us on this is the way the army could do things differently."
Northumbria Police's Assistant Chief Constable Rachel Bacon said changes have been made nationally regarding the response to stalking and harassment in the light of this horrific case.
She said: "With the help of Alice's family we are now leading the way in training officers in the best way to deal with these types of offences, with their input vital in developing a video which is now also used by other forces and partners.
"Their continued determination to change the law to better protect victims of stalking is commendable."
Commenting on the case, a Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: "Our thoughts remain with Alice's family and friends at this very difficult time.
"We are committed to tacking domestic abuse and last year launched a strategy to help prevent domestic abuse in all its forms.
"This includes prevention of abuse in the home and providing support to the families of service personnel who may be affected."
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