Kensington & Chelsea (Parliament Politics Magazine) – Lady Martha Sitwell, model and Royal Ascot figure, was harassed by a stalker outside her Kensington home who made ‘strangling noises,’ a court has been told.
As reported by Daily mail, according to a court hearing, a stalker who stood outside the home of an aristocrat known as the “face of Royal Ascot” was making “strangling noises” and looking at her.
The 43-year-old Mirsad Veliji is accused of harassing Lady Martha Sitwell, 45, from April to August of 2022.
In July 2022, he’made a strangling sound before watching Ms Sitwell’ while standing in front of her Kensington apartment, Isleworth Crown Court heard.
Again, Veliji ‘wheeled extremely near to Ms Sitwell and laughed out loud,’ according to the report.
Jurors were informed that he had already been found guilty of attacking a lone woman jogging in Chelsea in January 2022.
According to what the court heard, Veliji approached her and gave her a fierce look before seizing her neck for five seconds.
In May 2022, he attacked a second woman in Kensington after grabbing her by the neck, dragging her, and attempting to hit her close to her residence.
He showed up in court with a mental health mediator, his long grey hair pulled back in a ponytail.
When questioned by Atalanta Sanders, his defense attorney, he said that Lady Sitwell’s dread of him was “not his fault.”
Asked if he remembered staring at her in April 2022, Veliji replied: ‘No’.
Ms Sanders asked:
‘In that time period do you remember wanting to make anyone uncomfortable, that was a lady, near where you live?’
‘No, no’, Veliji repeated.
The ‘first and last’ occasion he encountered the socialite, he said, was when he ran into Lady Sitwell on the street in April 2022.
Veliji said she ‘put her hand up’ adding: ‘She was scared and I was scared – she went on her way, I continued on my way’, he said.
‘Do you remember trying to speak to her near her house in May?’, Ms Sanders asked.
‘No, no, no – I never tried to speak to her’, he replied.
Asked if he’d ever ‘cycled at a lady on purpose’, Veliji again responded: ‘No’.
John Livingston, prosecuting, asked Veliji: ‘Is it your case that everything that she said is a lie?’
‘It is a lie, sir, everything that she said is made up apart from when we met’, the man said.
Veliji was found guilty after two occurrences involving women in 2022, according to the prosecution.
‘Both incidents happened in the area where you lived. The first one involves a woman who was jogging alone on Cromwell Road and what I say is that she bumped into you accidentally on the way and then looked back to apologise.’
And then you started to stare at her, you walked back to her and you grabbed her neck for approximately five seconds.
She was able to break away from you but she had red marks around her neck.
Veliji told jurors: ‘It is true, I pleaded guilty.’
‘You (also) grabbed a woman who lived in [X] just like Martha Sitwell – you grabbed her by the neck.’
Veliji replied: ‘They hit me with the arm, both of them, that’s why I reacted.’
She added that this is a question of you grabbing (the second woman) by the neck, dragging her head along the railings near her home and intending to punch her – and you pleaded guilty to doing all that.
The prosecution case is that Martha Sitwell was afraid that you were going to do something very similar to her, do you understand?
She could have done it if she had hit me with the arm but with Martha nothing happened like that.
Charlie Hamilton James, a nature photographer and television broadcaster who was once Lady Sitwell’s companion, provided the prosecution with evidence, which Mr. Livingston reminded Veliji about.
‘Do you remember hearing Mr Hamilton James give evidence yesterday – the tall gentleman.
Do you remember him saying that he travelled all the way from Bristol because he was worried about the safety of Martha?’
Veliji apologized once more for frightening Martha, but he added that fear “could happen to anybody, even to me.”
During his closing remarks, Mr. Livingston urged the jury to take Mr. Hamilton James’s evidence into account.
He was familiar with her, at least during the early period of the time period we are discussing.
She is not a snowflake, he made plain.
This is not a weakling who is easily intimidated or terrified; rather, she is a strong lady.
The truth is that she grew more and more afraid of the defendant as a result of his inappropriate behavior.
Starting with the staring, it progressed to attempts at conversation and finally to hanging about outside her house.
She obviously called Mr. Hamilton James because she was so concerned.
He lives in Bristol, while she lives in Kensington. At this point, they had broken up and were no longer going out together.
He was clearly worried enough by the story she told him that he took two weeks off to come down and stay with her, as he made clear yesterday, to ensure her safety and protection after she told him that she had a stalker.
Veliji disputes two stalking accusations. According to the first accusation, he incited fear of violence, and according to the second, he produced “alarm or distress.”
The trial goes on.
What measures has Lady Martha Sitwell taken to protect herself from the stalker in Kensington?
The case was brought before the court after Lady Martha Sitwell informed the police about the harassment and stalking. This is an essential first step in starting an investigation and guaranteeing legal protection.
She gave the court testimony and evidence of the stalker’s actions, including accounts of the “strangling noises” and the person’s frequent visits outside her house.
It is typically recommended that victims keep a journal, record all episodes, and, if at all feasible, gather photographic or video proof.
By pursuing the matter in court, Lady Sitwell would have been able to get protection measures like non-molestation orders or restraining orders, which forbid the stalker from coming near or getting in touch with her.