A stalker who used an Amazon Alexa device to “bug” his ex-girlfriend’s home has been spared jail.
Hassan Mehmet had threatened to disfigure former girlfriend Shelby Laidlaw in an acid attack, said he was going to stab her new boyfriend and that he wanted to pull her teeth out after he deliberately crashed her Jaguar in a motorway suicide attempt.
The 35-year-old pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey to a lengthy catalogue of offences, including stalking and dangerous driving, and was handed a suspended sentence
James Lachkovic, prosecuting, told the Old Bailey: “On 21 April she allowed Mehmet to accompany her on a hospital visit with her. In the car afterwards he threatened to use a knife on a male friend of hers and showed her a knife. She was so scared that she allowed him to borrow her car.”
“On 22 April,” he added, “he came to her address and threatened to throw acid in her face before driving off in her car.
“On that same day he sent 118 messages and he sent further messages in the days following.”
Later that day, reports the Daily Mail, Mehmet deliberately crashed Ms Laidlaw’s car on the M20 motorway.
When police arrived at the scene of the incident, he told them he was trying to kill himself because of the breakdown of his relationship with Ms Laidlaw.
He was arrested and released on police bail multiple times for alleged offences against Ms Laidlaw before he was finally remanded in custody on July 22 last year. During this period, he used an Amazon Alexa device in Ms Laidlaw’s home to spy on her, and bombarded her with text and Facebook messages.
Defending Mehmet, Manisha Knights said he had been mentally “very, very, very” unwell at the time of the incident and was suffering from emotional unstable personality disorder.
“His mental health was at an absolute low,” she told the court.
Judge Philip Katz told Mehmet: “This is an appalling course of conduct against your partner between April, June and July 2022.
“‘You were repeatedly messaging, calling, messaging on Facebook, spying on her with Alexa. It is appalling.
“The whole thing is simply a disgusting course of conduct.
“Later on it seems you tried to kill yourself with a car which was a selfish and dangerous thing to do.
“At the end of the day, the concerns that I had that you were just the sort of individual who would go out and kill her as a result of problems with you personality; my fears about that have been put to rest by the information made available to me.’
Mehmet was handed a two-year prison sentence, suspended for two years, and a stalking order and restraining order will both be in place for 10 years.
He was banned from driving for 12 months and will have to retake his driving test before he can drive again.
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