Man banned from city for 15 years after stalking woman over Instagram

A stalker has been banned from Cambridge for 15 years after harassing a woman he started following on Instagram.
Cambridge Crown Court newsCambridge Crown Court news
Cambridge Crown Court news

Sakib Uddin, of Cable Street, East London, stalked the woman between 2 February and 29 September this year.

The 21-year-old first messaged the woman in July 2016, calling her beautiful and asking for her phone number.

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The woman refused to give it to him but he kept asking for it, and even threatened to come to Cambridge and "slap" her.

Cambridge Crown Court newsCambridge Crown Court news
Cambridge Crown Court news

Uddin then visited the woman’s work place in Cambridge and gave her a gift, Cambridge Crown Court heard.

He continued messaging her on Instagram and coming to her work place on multiple occasions over the following month.

Uddin was reported to the police and was issued with a caution following an investigation.

After this, the woman deleted her Instagram account.

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She brought it back on 26 January this year and one week later, received another message from Uddin.

The woman deleted her account again for another week, before further reinstating it.

She continued to get messages from Uddin, but sent from different Instagram accounts, which she rejected.

She messaged Uddin asking him not to contact her and to leave her alone.

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However he continued to threaten her and her family - threatening to kill her, come to her address or get others to go to her house.

He also sent her photos of knives, the court was told.

The woman replied to some of these messages in a bid to diffuse the situation and told police that the messages caused her to feel scared and threatened.

These messages continued from 2 February until June when the victim contacted the police due to the concerns she had about the messages.

Uddin was arrested, interviewed and bailed.

However between August and September he continued to contact the woman, asking for his phones back from the police and money back from a cake he had paid her for in 2016.

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Uddin also requested to add her on Instagram multiple times, but every time she would reject him he would re-add her.

In police interview, Uddin admitted all contact with the woman. He told officers that he was joking with the threats and never meant the victim to take them seriously.

At Cambridge Crown Court on Friday (30 November) Uddin was handed a 28 week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months.

He was also ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid work.

Uddin was given a restraining order for 15 years, with conditions not to go to Cambridge and not to contact the victim.

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DC Ed Boggis said: “Uddin’s actions have had an extremely negative impact on his victim and by ignoring the initial police caution in 2016, he showed a blatant disregard for the law.

“The suspended sentence handed down by the judge means that if he chooses to reoffend he is likely to go straight to prison for his crimes, as well as serving any additional sentence for new offences.

“The length of the restraining order shows how seriously the courts take stalking and harassment, and the order will help to protect Uddin’s victim in the future.”