Mentally ill man charged with stalking

A man’s four-year obsession with a woman he only met twice has landed him in trouble with the law after the woman sought the police’s help.

The 29-year-old man, who is not being named by order of the court, was arraigned before magistrate Neville Camilleri this morning, accused of stalking, harassment and misuse of electronic communications equipment.

He had met the object of his obsession – a friend of his brother’s - only twice and his romantic advances had been rejected, the court was told. But this did not deter him from repeatedly turning up at the woman’s workplace and family home or from calling her incessantly. The harassment began in 2014.

The accused had spent time being treated for psychiatric problems in Mount Carmel Hospital, but upon his release, he had started harassing the woman again, at which point she had contacted the police.

Defence lawyer Giannella De Marco entered a not guilty plea and requested bail. The lawyer also asked the court to withhold the accused’s name from publication.

The court upheld the request for a ban on the publication of the accused’s and injured party’s names.

Prosecuting police inspector Jonathan Ransley did not object to bail, pointing out that the accused’s mental state was such that it wouldn’t be healthy for him to be held in prison.

“Here we do not have a person who ever was violent. He is a sick man, mentally and is not in his right mind,” De Marco said, adding that the man is receiving psychiatric care at the moment. Aside from a protection order ordering him to keep a distance from the girl, the defence suggested that he be ordered to submit to his doctor’s instructions.

“He’s very fragile. I’m not sure what he’s understanding. He’s very docile,” said the lawyer.

The Inspector agreed. “The only issue is his obsession,” he said.

The court granted the man bail and upheld the request for a protection order. Addressing the accused’s concerned parents, who were present in the courtroom today he urged them to ensure he obeyed the court’s directives.

Bail was granted against a deposit of €500 and a personal guarantee of €2000, on condition that he submit to medical treatment. The court warned the man that if he breached his bail conditions or those of the protection order issued in favour of the woman, he would be rearrested and fined or possibly jailed.