A court in the United Kingdom has given a five-year restraining order to Amit Magar, the stalker of British tennis sensation Emma Radukanu. This was after the court was told how Magar walked 23 miles to Radukanu’s family home stole the US Open champion’s father’s shoe as a souvenir.
The court found Magar guilty of stalking the 19-year-old tennis star between 1 November and 4 December last year. The stalker visited Radukanu’s house on three different occasions and left unwanted cards and gifts. One of his notes said that the tennis star deserved ‘love’ as he illustrated the 23 miles distance covered by him in a bid to meet Radukanu.
On one occasion, Magar also decorated the tennis player’s Christmas tree and stole the trainer from her porch without realising that it belonged to her father.
The police arrested Magar after Radukanu’s father filed an official complaint.
District Judge Sushil Kumar on Wednesday found Magar guilty and gave a five-year restraining order and sentenced the 35-year-old resident of Harrow in north-west London 18-month community order. Magar will be required to undertake 200 hours of unpaid community work and go through an eight-week curfew between 9 PM and 6 PM monitored by an electronic tag.
Radukanu had earlier told the police that she felt scared about going out after the incident. “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,” she had told the police in a statement.
She had added, “Because of this 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.”
Magar is a former Amazon delivery man, while Radukanu was named the BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 2021 following her heroics at the US Open last year.