A stalker visited the home of tennis champion Emma Raducanu three times and stole one of her father’s shoes as a “souvenir”, a court has heard.
Amrit Magar, 35, first travelled to the teenager’s neighbourhood in November 2021 and asked her neighbours for her address.
He wrote a note saying “nothing to say, but you deserve love” – to which he added his name, as well as those of his wife and dog.
When arriving at the door with the note and a bouquet of flowers, he was confronted by Ms Raducanu’s parents but said he was a delivery driver dropping off gifts from somebody else.
Magar went back to the family’s home a few days later and posted a map he had drawn that illustrated the 23-mile distance he had walked from his home in Edgware, north London.
The note, dated 2 December 2021, says: “23 miles walked 4 you.”
Two days later, he went to the house again and decorated a tree in her garden with fairylights. He posted the remaining fairylights and batteries through the letterbox.
Magar then took a shoe from an area outside the house, believing that it belonged to her.
Ms Raducanu’s father, Ian, recognised Magar as he had shown up in doorbell footage from when he stalked the house before.
He followed him to a bus stop and informed police of Magar’s actions.
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”.
On Friday, he was found guilty of stalking at Bromley magistrates’ court. He will be sentenced next month.
In a statement read to the court, Ms 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.”
Giving evidence on Friday, Magar said he was ashamed of his actions.
District Judge Sushil Kumar said: “His inability to explain how he did not think this was harassment is incapable of belief.”
