Alexa stalker walks free

A stalker who used an Alexa to listen in on his ex-partner before threatening to stab her boyfriend and throw acid in her face hsa been spared jail.

Hassan Mehmet, 35, harassed Shelby Laidlaw and warned he would pull her teeth out after he deliberately crashed her Jaguar in a motorway suicide attempt.

He was arrested and released on police bail multiple times for alleged offences against Ms Laidlaw before he was remanded in custody on 22 July last year.

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.’

The couple had been in a relationship for 13 years before it ended in April.

Mehmet was arrested on 13 April for coercive and controlling behaviour and domestic common assault after it was alleged that he bit Ms Laidlaw on her head.

He was released on police bail and embarked on his campaign of harassment.

James Lachkovic, prosecuting, said: ‘On 19 April she became aware he was using the Alexa…to listen in on her at her home address.

‘The following day she saw him near the address.

‘It became apparent that he was watching her leaving the address because he sent messages indicating that he had seen her drive off from the premises.

‘He continued to send messages despite being asked to stop.

‘On 21 April she allowed him 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 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, Mehmet drove Ms Laidlaw’s car on the M20.

‘He appears to have had a puncture in one tyre but continued to drive at speed and then deliberately drove off the motorway, crashing the car,’ the prosecutor said.

He told police he was trying to hurt himself because of the breakdown of his relationship, the court heard.

Mehmet was taken to hospital and visited Ms Laidlaw at her address after he was discharged.

Between 26 and 27 April he sent her 266 messages, from different numbers, from the hospital.

Mr Lachkovic said Mehmet was arrested again on 5 May and released once more on the 15th.

After his release, the stalker threatened to stab Ms Laidlaw and pay someone to beat up her boyfriend.

‘He wrote threatening messages on Facebook and sent threatening emails saying he would rip her teeth out of her face,’ the prosecutor went on.

‘He continued to make threats to her in July and messages were sent where he threatened to plunge a knife into Shelby Laidlaw’s throat and stab her male friend.’

Mehmet was eventually arrested and remanded into custody on 22 July.

In an impact statement read out in court, Ms Laidlaw said: ‘I was worried Hassan was going to carry out the threats.

‘Hassan has been abusive in our relationship.

‘The whole situation has left me feeling really drained and I’m scared of ever seeing him again as I feel he has no regard for authority.’

Mehmet has 29 convictions for 36 offences between 2001 and 2017, including robbery, affray, burglary, aggravated vehicle taking, criminal damage, theft and handling stolen goods.

Manisha Knights, defending, said her client was ‘very, very, very’ unwell at the time, suffering from emotional unstable personality disorder.

‘His mental health was at an absolute low.’

Mehmet, of Don Phelan Close, Southwark, admitted stalking, dangerous driving, driving without insurance and driving without a licence.

He was sentenced to two years prison, suspended. A stalking order and a restraining order are both in place for 10 years. He will be subject to trail monitoring for nine months and have to undertake 30 days rehabilitation.

He is also banned from driving for 12 months and must re-test before he can drive again.

Last October, jealous management consultant Phillipa Copleston-Warren admitted posting naked photos of her former partner online and hijacking his Alexa to scare off his new lover.

Copleston-Warren, 46, told the sobbing girlfriend to leave her ex-boyfriend’s Lincolnshire home through the voice-controlled device and flashed his house lights off and on.

She also accessed his Facebook account from more than 100 miles away and posted naked photos of him online that spread as far as Pakistan, leaving him feeling ‘violated’.

Copleston-Warren was handed a three month jail sentence, suspended for 12 months and given a seven year restraining order against the victim at Isleworth Crown Court