WALTHAM FOREST: STALKER ARSONIST JAILED
A STALKER who set fire to a woman's car after she rejected his advances has been jailed for four years.Razwan Malik, 33, exchanged numbers with the 30-year-old when they met by chance at a petrol station in Leyton in May 2011.
But after a number of text messages and calls the woman asked him to stop contacting her.
Weeks later at around 2.30am on July 24 her car was doused with fuel and set alight outside her home in Mornington Road, Leytonstone.
No suspect was identified at the time but in August the woman reported to police that Malik was harassing her.
He was arrested and charged for harassment, prompting officers from Waltham Forest CID to re-examine the arson attack.
They soon found evidence which placed Malik at the scene and he was charged with arson in October.
In December he was sentenced to 56 weeks imprisonment for the harassment and has now been convicted of arson following a five-day trial at Snaresbrook Crown Court.
Following the verdict it was revealed that Malik, of Lorne Road in Walthamstow, has a string of convictions for harassment and making violent threats against another woman.
Investigating officer detective constable Becky Woodsford said: "These incidents have caused considerable distress to the victim, who has had her life turned upside down by the actions of a man who she had met once for a few short minutes.
We are pleased that he has been passed a lengthy custodial sentence which highlights the severity of his actions and behaviour.
We hope this conviction can assist the victim in coming to terms with what she has been though."
