Stalker soldier jailed for life after slitting his girlfriend’s throat ‘tried to return to India’ to serve his sentence, victim’s family claims

DAILYMAIL.COM • 2h ago

By OLIVIA DAY, ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR, AUSTRALIA and MOLLY ROSE PIKE 15:34 19 Oct 2026, updated 15:57 19 Oct 2026

A jealous soldier who stalked and then brutally murdered his ex-girlfriend asked to return to India to serve his life sentence, the woman’s horrified family has claimed.

Alice Ruggles, 24, was found by her flatmate with her throat slashed in the bathroom of their home in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, on October 12, 2016.

Lance Corporal Trimaan ‘Harry’ Dhillon was jailed for a minimum of 22 years after being found guilty of murdering the former Sky worker in April 2017.

Her family, who have set up the Alice Ruggles Trust in a bid to raise awareness of the ‘hidden dangers’ of stalking, recently marked the 10th anniversary of her murder.

Professor Clive Ruggles and his wife, Dr Sue Hill, say Dhillon – a former 2 Scots Signaller – has never expressed remorse for cutting Alice’s life short.

The couple say they were not informed when their daughter’s killer asked to be transferred from the UK to India to serve his life sentence.

They believe he would pose a threat to their family if he was released early in India, having previously threatened Alice’s younger sister Emma.

The Ruggles only found out about Dhillon’s request when it had been approved. They wrote to the Minister asking that it not go ahead and waited 18 months for a decision.

They were relieved to learn the exchange was rejected in June 2023.

‘You cannot have prisoner exchanges in a situation where the sentence is life imprisonment for murder,’ Mr Ruggles told The Mirror.

‘You cannot do that – it is a minimum tariff. At the end of that, we have the right to give a victim statement as part of our system of British law which protects us. You cannot send a man who is serving 22 years for murder to another country, it cannot be right.’

Government sources told the publication that ‘all factors’ were considered in a prisoner transfer application, including the seriousness of the offending, the sentence imposed and concerns raised by victims and their families.

Nearly 1,000 foreign offenders are said to have returned since the Government came into office, marking a 36 per cent increase.

Alice, who worked as an office coordinator for Sky, was found dead by her flatmate and friend Maxine McGill, who told police Dhillon was ‘definitely’ behind the killing when she called 999 following the horrific discovery.

The harrowing 999 call, which was played in court during Dhillon’s trial, records Ms McGill attempting to wake her friend, shouting: ‘Alice! Alice! Alice!’

She tells the operator: ‘She’s covered in blood in the bathroom. I cannot look.’

Amid tears, she then adds: ‘She’s blue. She’s not breathing, there’s blood everywhere and her leg looks broke… she’s dead.’

Dhillon – whose actual first name is Trimaan – harassed Miss Ruggles after they split up, hacking into her phone and bombarding her with emails.

He drove more than 120 miles from his barracks in Edinburgh to her home in Gateshead to leave chocolates and flowers on her windowsill.

Dhillon’s actions prompted her to phone the police, telling them that she had heard knocking on her doors and windows and was worried.

She told them: ‘He’s hacked into my Facebook and sent me messages… he sent me a message saying “I’ve been in your garden since five”.

‘There was a knock at my door and when I looked there was no one there. And then it happened again. And then he’s come round the back, knocked on my bedroom window. He’s been outside and left some flowers and chocolate on my bedroom window. He’s left, he’s not done anything but I’m just concerned.

‘My friends have been telling me to call the police. I just feel a bit shaken up.’

Dhillon was made the subject of a Police Information Notice, but later contacted his terrified ex, prompting her again to phone police. But no action was taken and five days later Dhillon returned to Alice’s home and brutally killed her.

Dhillon had served in Afghanistan but not in a combat role and the Army was unaware of any traumatic episode during his service.

The 2 Scots Signaller, who hoped to join the SAS in reconnaissance, was tall, powerfully built and was a signaller with his regiment and had passed some of the courses to join the special forces.

The couple got together in October 2015 after Dhillon saw a photo of Alice on Facebook and described her as ‘the most naturally beautiful girl in the world’.

Alice was at first put off by the comment, but changed her mind and decided to give him a chance.

Throughout the relationship, Dhillon would check her messages and question why she was trying to look nice when she went out.

They split up, but he began relentlessly stalking her when he thought she might be starting a new relationship.

Alice’s parents set up the Alice Ruggles Trust to teach schoolchildren about the ‘warning signs’ of stalking and highlight the need to protect victims.

‘As soon as the police told us, we knew that it was Dhillon. No other thought crossed our minds,’ Mr Ruggles told the Daily Mail in 2021.

‘He had been stalking our daughter and wouldn’t leave her alone.’

READ MORE: Heartbroken family of murdered Alice Ruggles whose throat was slit by her stalker soldier ex admit ‘normal life no longer exists’ following her death

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