Silent Stalker: Residents are targeted by masked prowler in Midsomer Murders-style mystery

Solicitor Graeme Francis (pictured left) and his wife, Clare, have become the target of a mystery man known in the area by the ominous title 'Silent Stalker'. Posted signs showing e-fit photo seem incongruous in the otherwise postcard village.

With its idyllic 13th-century church and thatched cottages, the Hampshire village of Longparish, on the banks of the River Test, attracts those in search of a peaceful life.

The ‘what’s on’ list on the village notice board gives a flavour of the kind of gentle pursuits enjoyed by the village’s well-heeled residents, who can choose between a lecture on bumblebees, spring cleaning the local church or an evening discussing the joys of hanging baskets.

That’s why one item pinned to the notice board this week seemed utterly incongruous - a police ‘e-fit’ photograph.

The stark image shows the face of a man wanted for questioning in connection with a spate of sinister events which has cast a terrible shadow over this community.

Tall, blond-haired and blue-eyed, the mysterious man known by villagers as the ‘silent stalker’ has for the past year targeted the £1million country mansion of solicitor Graeme Francis and his wife, Clare.

The man has repeatedly been spotted prowling in the grounds of the Francises’ home since December 2010. Sometimes he wears a balaclava, while on other occasions he has been spotted wearing latex gloves and a mask, carrying a gun and, on one occasion, riding a bicycle.

Last winter, he left footprints in the snow around the couple’s home, but his stalking campaign has now escalated into violence. The couple’s five-year-old golden retriever was shot dead last July. Weeks later, mother-of-four Mrs Francis, 58, was pushed and assaulted by the suspect, who was carrying a wooden cosh.

Mr Francis, 61, a mergers and acquisitions specialist who has worked alongside celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal as company secretary for his Fat Duck restaurant in Berkshire, was also violently attacked with a cosh in February and needed hospital treatment for head injuries.

Police have begun a major investigation and are appealing for witnesses. Read More