Teenage tennis sensation Emma Raducanu says she has been left feeling unsafe in her own home after a stalker visited it three times, a court has heard.
She said she wants to move to a new house with better security after Amrit Magar, 35, travelled to the London suburb where she lives with her parents in November and asked strangers for her address. Once he found out where she lived he left notes for the teenager, including one saying she “deserved love” along with a bouquet of flowers.
When he was confronted by Miss Raducanu’s parents, he claimed he was delivering gifts to someone else.
Magar went back to her home a few days later and delivered a map he had drawn, illustrating the 23-mile distance he had walked from his home in Edgware, north London.
Two days later, he went to Miss Raducanu’s home again and decorated a tree in her garden with Christmas lights. He even stole a trainer from the porch, believing it belonged to the star.
However, the trainer belonged to her father, Ian, who recognised Magar had previously visited the property after seeing him in doorbell footage and followed him while informing police.
In a statement, Mr Raducanu said: “I received a notification on my phone from the Nest doorbell. It said someone was at the front of the house. I went outside and could see a male stood on the pavement. He began running away.”
When Magar was arrested he was found with the trainer in his bag, telling officers he “wanted a souvenir”.
Magar was found guilty of stalking at Bromley magistrates’ court on Friday and will be sentenced next month.
In a statement read to the court, Miss Raducanu said she was worried about going out on her own.
Speaking to officers from Melbourne last month while she prepared for the Australian Open, the 19-year-old said: “Since all this has happened, I have felt creeped out. I feel very apprehensive if I go out, especially if I am on my own.
“I feel like my freedom has been taken away from me. I am constantly looking over my shoulder. I feel on edge and worried this could happen again. I don’t feel safe in my own home, which is where I should feel safest.”
(The Telegraph)