London: An Indian-origin man from west London has been sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment for stalking and threatening his former girlfriend after she ended their relationship. Pradeep Thomas was jailed at Harrow Crown Court in north London yesterday after he had pleaded guilty to stalking, involving fear of violence.

The 37-year-old bombarded the 50-year-old victim with messages, which included warnings about killing her and throwing acid on her.   "Thomas refused to accept that his relationship with the victim was over and so he subjected her to weeks of harassment which culminated in him calling her dozens of times over a few hours and leaving her increasingly angry messages where he repeatedly threatened to kill her or cause her serious harm.  

"This understandably resulted in the victim fearing for her life and feeling unsafe in her own home," said Detective Constable Heidi Adams, the investigating officer from the Metropolitan Police's Community Safety Unit in Harrow.   She praised the victim for coming forward and hoped the accused's jail term would give her some "comfort and closure" about her ordeal.  

"I hope Thomas uses his sentence to reflect upon his actions. This type of behaviour is not acceptable and we will swiftly bring those who think it is to justice," she added. The victim had been in an on and off relationship with Thomas for about four years but earlier this year, she ended the relationship against his wishes. The court heard that Thomas then began harassing the victim and kept turning up at her home in Harrow despite her repeatedly telling him she did not want to speak to him.  

On August 12 and 13, the victim received 73 missed calls from Thomas and 35 voice messages. The messages suggested Thomas was outside her home and that he was going to kill or harm her. Met Police detectives listened to the messages and heard Thomas demanding the victim answer her phone and let him in the house. Thomas ranted at the victim for seeing other men, threatened to damage her house and car, made repeated threats to kill her and also threatened to throw acid on her.  

The victim reported Thomas to the police and he was arrested on August 14. He told officers that he was hurt, upset and drunk when he sent the messages.   He also admitted that the victim had broken up with him but that he still considered her to be his girlfriend. PTI