'Delusional' stalker who visited Middlesbrough restaurant everyday to stare at worker to be deported

Kishore Kumar
-Credit: (Image: Cleveland Police)


An 'obsessive' university drop-out visited a Middlesbrough restaurant every night and stared at an employee as she was working.

Kishore Kumar told the woman that she was 'beautiful' and said he 'would die' if she was married. When restaurant bosses barred the 24-year-old "he stood outside or across the street, watching through the glass, late at night, for an hour at a time".

Kumar also told his victim that he loved her. Teesside Crown Court heard that Kumar moved to Teesside after abandoning his masters course at university.

He had moved to the UK for the course, after completing a mechanical engineering degree in India. But in May 2023, he began visiting the Peri Peri Original Restaurant, on Linthorpe Road, and staring at the employee during his visits, which lasted up to 90 minutes at a time.

Jonathan Gittins, prosecuting, told the court that the woman's colleagues noticed him staring and he began to visit daily. The woman moved to work on the floor above - at the Sweet Treats Dessert Lounge - and Mr Gittins said that Kumar would enter and 'when he could not see her, he'd walk out again.'

Eventually he was barred from the restaurant but staff saw him watching the woman from outside, across the street. "On one occasion, he came in at closing time as the woman was sweeping up and he told her he loved her," Mr Gittins said. "The victim said that there was some aggression in his voice".

Next, Kumar began going up to Sweet Treats to see if the woman was there. The victim told Kumar that she was married and he said that she was "beautiful", "he would die" and not leave her alone until she sent him pictures showing she was married.

Chocolates, messages and work recording

By November, the victim was so affected, she took two months off work. But when she returned on January 8, her colleagues said that Kumar had left her some chocolates. "The defendant then attended every shift she worked, entering the shop until he was thrown out," Mr Gittins said.

On January 26, the victim was so scared she ran from work to her car, and reported the stalking to the police. But Kumar began calling the restaurant from different numbers, asking to speak to her.

He was arrested and bailed as police investigated on January 27. In March, he sent her messages and a video of her that he had recorded, whilst she was at work.

On February 10, he rang the restaurant asking to speak to his victim, and told her colleagues that he "loved her". He was thrown out.

When he returned in April, the police were called and Kumar was arrested again. He pleaded guilty to stalking and was remanded in custody in August.

In a statement, the victim said she was worried that Kumar would find out where she lived. "I feel uneasy when I am working, I feel I am being watched," she said. "I feel this male is dangerous and I'm worried about what his motives are."

'Delusional infatuation'

In mitigation, Ellen Wright told the Middlesbrough court that a psychiatrist's report had found that Kumar "had symptoms similar to delusional infatuation" at the time. Ms Wright said that his actions were "not borne out of any malice" towards the victim, "but a misplaced sense of love.

"He did not appreciate how much he was affecting the victim," Ms Wright said, and now he understands.

"He is deeply remorseful. He's desperate to return to his parents in India.

"That is his only goal. He wishes to leave this country as soon as possible."

The court heard that Kumar had "overstayed on his student visa" after giving up on his masters course in management and that he will be deported after any prison sentence. Judge Andrew Latimer told Kumar: "It is plain that you behaviour had become obsessional.

"This is your first time in prison, with the shock that will bring. You only have yourself to blame for that."

Kumar, of no fixed abode, was jailed for 18-months. He will serve 40% of the sentence before being deported.

He was made the subject of a 10-year restraining order, prohibiting him from contacting his victim. "You engaged in a persistent campaign of stalking, " the judge added, "The Home Office will contact you about automatic deportation."

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