Jemima Khan stalker walks free

An obsessed black cab driver who bombarded socialite Jemima Khan with hundreds of text messages in a year-long campaign of harassment has walked free from court.

Hassan Mahhmood, 27, embarked on the bizarre behaviour against the billionaire’s daughter after picking her up in his cab when she was on a night out with friends.

He saved Ms Khan’s phone number after the ride and inundated her with calls, texts and WhatsApp messages asking her to meet up.

The black cab driver sent 1,182 text messages, called her 203 times and sent many more WhatsApp messages between June 2016 and July this year.

He used eleven different phones to contact Miss Khan, 43, after she blocked him and affectionately referred to her as ‘Bhabhi’.

The term means ‘elder brother’s wife’ or ‘eldest brother’s wife’ in Indian.

Mahhmood picked her up from jazz club Ronnie Scott’s when Miss Khan booked a cab through Hailo on 16 June.

She was with some friends and Mahhmood – who said he admired Pakistani cricket legend Imran Khan – told her he recognised her and requested a photo.

Miss Khan obliged and took a snap with him before he dropped her off, but he had saved her number through the booking system and the campaign began.

On one occasion he texted her 23 times.

He was described last month at Isleworth Crown Court as being ‘totally obsessed.’

Prosecutor Ruxanna Naser said: ‘To the extent that the last few messages stated that he wanted to meet her and come visit her.’

Mahhmood put her through months of distress as Miss Khan told him: ‘This is scaring me, if you do not stop immediately I will call the police.’

In a victim impact statement read to the court Miss Khan said: ‘The incident has made me increasingly anxious.

‘At times I would be home alone and he would call me several times.

‘Sometimes he said that he would come to my house.

‘I would ask friends to stay.

‘I have found it hard to sleep.

‘I have, on occasion, asked my sons to come home from wherever they are as I have been so scared.

‘I am nervous when I book a cab in case it is him.

‘I feel extremely vulnerable and scared.

‘As a result I am planning to move house.

‘He seems to have become increasingly unstable.’

She said she had been nervous to call the police thinking if Mahhmood lost his job she feared ‘he would seek revenge’.

It was through only ‘sheer kindness’ that she did not initially report him.

The court heard that he is of previous good character with no previous convictions.

Judge Martin Edmunds, QC, remarked that Mahhmood’s behaviour, in any view, demonstrated ‘remarkable, obsessive behaviour.’

Umar Ali, for Mahhmood, previously said that although the texts were persistent they were of ‘an innocent nature.’

Mr Ali told the judge today (thurs) that Mahhmood is enrolled in a cognitive behavioral therapy course to aid his offending.

He said the driver was had never had any previous problems with the police.

‘I would urge you to impose a community order with the requirements of a rehabilitation order with unpaid work,’ he said.

He told the judge that his client was remorseful and that ‘he knew what he did was wrong.’

Mahhmood became a huge fan of Miss Khan after her failed marriage to the legendary cricketer.

The cab driver is now getting divorced because of his behaviour and his licence to drive a cab has been revoked, the court previously heard.

Earlier in the month the judge issued a restraining order preventing him to contact the journalist for five years ahead of sentencing.

Judge Edmunds, QC, said he was deeply concerned with his behaviour and ordered a pre-sentence report.

The report revealed that he was in an ‘unsuccessful arranged marriage’ that left him depressed and sought therapy.

He previously warned that Mahhmood may face a custodial sentence of up to six months.

But he spared him jail and gave him an eight-week jail sentence suspended for 18 months

He said: ‘Your victim was Miss Jemima Khan – a well known personality.

‘You pursued a course of conduct which you knew – or ought to have knew – amounted to harrassment.

He said that he made unwelcoming and frightening contact with her and that harassment ‘intrudes on ordinary life.’

The judge described the behaviour as ‘very worrying’.

‘The seriousness of this is demonstrated by the fact that she was planning to move house.’

He was also ordered to complete a rehabilitate activity requirement for 20 days and complete 120 hours of unpaid work.

Mahhmood, of Warwick Road, Walthamstow, east London, denied one count of stalking involving serious alarm or distress.

But he admitted a lesser charge of harassment without violence.

ends