A former BBC broadcaster who invaded an ex-partner’s home during a "terrifying" three-month stalking campaign has narrowly avoided jail.
Ebunola "Ebs" Akintade, 42, pursued NHS worker Robert McDonnell to the airport, turned up unannounced at his home, and sent "nasty" messages after their relationship ended.
In one incident, Mr McDonnell said he was left "absolutely petrified" as Akintade spent four hours outside his flat, banging on the door and demanded his attention.
Akintade, who has featured on BBC Radio and as a commentator on Talk TV, "catfished" Mr McDonnell by posing as someone else on Grindr in a bid to message him, Woolwich Crown Court heard.
He was also caught entering Mr McDonnell’s flat when, it is said, he had expected his ex-partner to be away.
Akintade admitted stalking causing serious alarm or distress – his second stalking conviction in the last three years.
In July 2020, Akintade was handed a community order for stalking another ex-partner who had ended their relationship.
In that case, he "gaslighted" estate agent Tom Chandler by telling him he needed mental health treatment in the course of a six-month stalking campaign.
Prosecutor Obi Mgbokwere said Akintade followed a similar pattern of behaviour when Mr McDonnell ended their relationship in August 2022.
"He received a lot of abusive text messages from the defendant, trying to convince the victim he had mental health issues," he said.
"The victim didn’t take kindly to this – he responded by asking the defendant to stop contacting him."
Akintade was blocked on WhatsApp after sending "nasty" messages, and on August 28 last year he arrived at the block of flats where Mr McDonnell lives.
He managed to get into the building despite not having a key, the court heard, and began "knocking and trying to gain the attention of the victim, who was pretending not to be home", said Mr Mgbokwere, of an incident which lasted until 12.30am.
"The victim was absolutely petrified."
Mr McDonnell told the court he believed Akintade was "completely obsessed and fixated on him".
The prosecutor said Akintade told his former partner "if you just accept your mental health, I can marry you tomorrow", adding that this is "commonly referred to as gaslighting".
In September 2022, Akintade turned up at Stansted Airport as Mr McDonnell returned from a holiday, leading the victim to believe his home had been accessed for details of the flight – an allegation Akintade denies.
In October 2022, Mr McDonnell recalls exchanging photos with a new contact on the Grindr dating app, and when he grew suspicious he asked a friend to investigate and discovered Akintade was behind the account.
And later the same month he told the court of an incident when he had returned home unexpectedly from a trip to Brighton.
"At 10pm he was sitting in his living room and heard the front door open," said the prosecutor. "The victim jumped up and went to the hallway and shouted out.
"He saw the back of Mr Akintade running out of the flat."
Mr McDonnell, who trains NHS nurses, said the stalking campaign has affected his ability to work and left him afraid to leave his own home.
"I am always scared he is there and watching," he said. "He can’t take no for an answer, and I’m scared of what level he is willing to go to."
Mr McDonnell said he is now wary of new contacts online and is "always looking over my shoulder" in case Akintade is nearby.
"I always felt I could be safe and secure in my home, I truly believed I could close that door knowing nothing in the world could hurt me. That’s how home should feel, and Ebunola has destroyed that for me."
Mr McDonnell added: "I fear he knows exactly where I am now, like some sort of spy."
The court heard Akintade, a former Dulwich College pupil who went on to work for Radio Jackie as well as BBC Radio London, is now receiving counselling and cognitive behavioural therapy, and has been diagnosed with an impulse control disorder.
"He has difficulty with reacting to situations over which he has no control," said his barrister James Marsland.
"He really struggles with someone saying 'I don’t want anything to do with you, bye bye'. He can’t seem to fathom that, and he seems to think the answer to that is to talk to them."
Akintade denies gaslighting Mr McDonnell and says he was genuinely offering mental health support. He claims his former partner told him about the times of his flights to and from Stansted, and he denies posing as a stranger on Grindr.
But he admitted the stalking charge, and was sentenced by Judge Christopher Grout to a two-year prison sentence suspended for 18 months, with 30 days of rehab, trail monitoring for the next four months, and 100 hours of community service.
"I’m just persuaded you can be given a final opportunity to address the reasons for your behaviour," said the judge, as he decided to suspend the prison sentence.
"But it really is a last opportunity."
Akintade, who lives in Stratford, is already banned under a restraining order from contacting Mr Chandler.
A second restraining order was imposed banning him from contacting Mr McDonnell for the next ten years. He must also pay a £187 victim surcharge.
