A stalker who moved next to his victim and bought the same type of dog and car as her has been jailed for 20 months.
Martin Gunn, 51, met his victim on the dating app Hinge in March 2023 and began stalking her shortly after, Reading Crown Court heard.
He reportedly didn’t take the woman telling him she wanted to be friends well, and kept pursuing her after.
Gunn applied to join the same gym as his victim and moved near to her house, texting her: ‘Do not worry, I am not a stalker, ha ha.’
His application to join the gym was denied after the woman asked staff not to let him join, but he often ‘loitered’ outside of the area, the court heard.
A month after the victim bought a new Mercedes, Gunn bought the same one and would often drive it past her home, leaving flowers and notes. He was arrested.
After being released on bail, Gunn then filmed his victim and approached her at a local Costa, leading to him being charged with stalking involving fear of violence.
Gunn initially pleaded guilty, but later changed his plea to not guilty – saying he was given ‘bad legal advice’.
Judge Jane Rowley said at an earlier hearing: ‘He is attempting to minimise and deflect what he has done although deep down in his heart – as reflected by the guilty plea – he probably knows what he did was wrong.’
He has since been jailed for 20 years and given a seven year restraining order.
In 2022, a woman revealed she found her stalker ex living in her loft.
Hayley Smith, 39, called the police who discovered her ex, Ben Gould, 31, had been living in her loft – with buckets of urine in there showing where he’d been – and he was later found after 10 days on the run.
Gould pleaded guilty to stalking and was given a 20-week suspended sentence and a restraining order banning him from contacting her for three years, but he broke the latter.
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