Father admits stalking his own daughter after trying to stop her attending university
Written by News on 11/06/2019
A man has pleaded guilty to stalking his own daughter after sending threatening messages and pinning her against railings during a confrontation.
He was sentenced to nine weeks in prison, suspended for 12 months, and given a five-year restraining order at Leicester Crown Court.
The stalking began when the 20-year-old woman moved to Leicester to study at university in 2017, Leicestershire police said.
Her family initially tried to stop her from studying for a degree and had tried to force her to marry an Albanian man at the age of 15.
She secretly applied to a number of universities before she was eventually allowed to attend on certain conditions, which included living with a family friend who would report back on what she was doing.
The family also arranged for her to be dropped off at the university on Mondays and collected on Fridays.
In November 2017, things turned more sour when the woman began receiving threatening messages from her family after they were told she had been seen with a man, according to the police.
Her father then turned up at her university accommodation in an unsuccessful attempt to confront her.
The student did not hear anything else from her family until being told by her boyfriend that her father had returned to Leicester in April this year.
On 7 May, she was walking towards her university campus when her father grabbed her and pinned her against railings.
Members of the public intervened and the man was arrested.
Detective Constable Steve Hobby from Leicestershire Police said the family had tried to stop their daughter from “living the life she wanted”.
He said: “I hope that the fact her father has admitted his crime today can be of some comfort to her. She can now go about her life – living it in freedom – without the fear of being confronted by her father.
“She knows that if she is contacted by him, she can make a further report to police and it will be dealt with accordingly.
“It is important that the cycle of abuse is broken so that support agencies can engage with victims and allow them to have breathing space.”
(c) Sky News 2019: Father admits stalking his own daughter after trying to stop her attending university
