Laura Woods left 'in real fear' after football fan stalker sent her 'dark' messages for years and threatened to kill dog
19 February 2024, 05:35
TV presenter Laura Woods was left "in real fear" by an obsessed football fan stalker who sent her messages for two years and threatened to kill her dog.
Listen to this article
Loading audio...
Harneet Kaur, 25, targeted famous football presenter Woods, 36, online and sent packages to her home.
Kaur, a Liverpool fan from Walsall in the West Midlands, became obsessed with Woods in 2021 and began visiting the street she lived on.
As well as threats to kill her dog, Kaur also sent messages where she called Woods a prostitute.
She also sent copies of the Bible, sexual health tests and food to Woods' house.
Kaur arranged for Krispy Kreme donuts to be sent to the house, as well as a later Starbucks order and a chocolate lollipop.
A message accompanying the Starbucks order said: ""From your secret admirer and I'm not crazy".
Prosecutor Antonie Muller told Wolverhampton Crown Court: "Woods did not realise this was to be the start of a campaign against her."
But Kaur's communications with Woods soon became "darker", as she bombarded her with messages.
One said that she was "a former prostitute who slept herself into a job".
Prosecutors said that the messages had left Woods in fear for her safety, adding that she had increased her home and work security.
Kaur was arrested in April 2022 and rearrested later the same year. Police seized her phone and iPad, but that did not stop the messages.
She posted a picture of Woods with the caption: "Wtf is that coke head doing at Anfield."
Kaur, who has autism, was previously banned from the Liverpool ground for ticket touting.
She pleaded guilty to stalking, Judge Talog Davies said that the obsession and compulsion caused by her condition could not be considered enough mitigation to avoid a jail sentence, despite her lawyer's arguments.
He sent her to prison for 14 months and put her on a restraining order. Although prosecutors wanted her to be banned from every football ground in the country, the judge considered this too harsh, the MailOnline reported.
Kaur was banned from contacting Woods and 14 other people, and barred from going within 500 metres of her home.
Her defence lawyer Balbir Singh said in mitigation: "This defendant has never met Laura Woods, she has never spoken to her, she has never approached her – this is why this case is very different to many others that come before the courts."
