BRADFORD STALKER SENT 160 MESSAGES TO WOMAN IN JUST THREE HOURS
A court has heard how a stalker bombarded a woman with thousands of messages – even sending 160 in three hours on a single day.Mohammed Kayani was said to have shouted, cried, and made threats to kill himself in a series of calls, messages, texts, and voice notes.
On one occasion he made a Facetime call whilst he was on the wrong side of the railings of a bridge over a busy road.
He is now beginning a 30-month prison sentence after a judge at Bradford Crown Court described how his victim was so distressed she had to change her phone number and move house.
Prosecutor Shebanee Devadasan told the court how Kayani, 32, of Smith Lane, Bradford, and the victim had been in a relationship for around 18 months when it came to an end.
Over a four-and-a-half-month period he called her around a thousand times leaving “rambling” messages in which he shouted, cried, and made threats to kill himself.
He also rang the victim’s child’s school, prompting staff to call 999.
After that incident the victim changed her number and blocked him on social media.
Kayani was arrested on September 11 last year and released on bail but within days he had visited an address where the victim was staying and was caught on ring doorbell footage walking around the property, trying doors, and looking through windows.
He was said to be intoxicated at the time.
During one three-hour period he made 160 calls or sent messages, voice notes, videos and pictures.
The police were called when Kayani sent the victim a video of himself outside her address.
When he returned he was arrested, and police found canisters of nitrous oxide in his car.
In two interviews Kayani denied stalking and then answered “no comment” to most questions.
He later pleaded guilty to stalking involving fear of violence and possessing nitrous oxide.
He had seven previous convictions for 13 offences including for drugs and public order offences.
In mitigation, Rebecca Randall said that Kayani, who appeared via video link from HMP Leeds, had had time to reflect on his actions, and was genuinely sorry.
He was said to have taken responsibility for what he had done and realised that his behaviour had been unacceptable.
She said the relationship had at times been happy, but was also turbulent.
Sentencing Kayani to two-and-a-half years imprisonment for stalking, His Honour Judge Roger Thomas KC said a pre-sentence report painted “a pretty bleak picture” as he had shown very little remorse or understanding of his wrongdoing.
But he accepted Kayani had since realised the seriousness of what he had done and taken steps to address his attitude.
Commenting on his stalking behaviour, Judge Thomas said: “You contacted [the victim] on hundreds, if not thousands, of occasions.
She was very distressed indeed.
There’s a very telling victim personal statement [that] gives a very clear insight into the terrible effect that your behaviour had on her.
She was in many ways a vulnerable woman during this period of time.” Judge Thomas made Kayani subject to a 10-year restraining order banning him from any contact with the victim and ordered the forfeiture and destruction of the nitrous oxide, for which he imposed no separate penalty.
