He has been jailed after making her life a misery
An obsessive stalker made a woman’s life a complete misery – and refused to leave her in peace – by constantly pestering her, turning up without warning and using trackers to keep close tabs on what she was doing. She never knew when he was going to contact her or confront her without warning and he brazenly ignored her frequent pleas to be left alone after the break-up of their troubled relationship.
The police later found that he had put a tracker on her car so that he could monitor where she was going, Hull Crown Court heard. Vadimas Pjankovas, 40, of Eggington Street, off Freetown Way, Hull, admitted an offence of stalking the woman, involving causing fear of serious alarm or distress, between January 6 and March 25.
Harry Bradford, prosecuting, said that Pjankovas and the woman met about three-and-a-half years ago on Facebook. She did not know him and so she rejected his friend request on the social media platform.
However, a short time later, he approached her as she was walking home from work one day. He spoke to her about her not accepting the friend request. He later got in touch via a mutual friend and started to find out information.
This led him to start conversations on Facebook Messenger. Eventually, they started to date. They were renting separate homes at the time but they later lived together at her home.
“There were no issues for the first year of their relationship,” said Mr Bradford. The relationship broke down during last year and ended early this year.
On January 6, the woman took her car to a garage for its MoT but she received a text message from Pjankovas saying: “Are you planning on spending money on that piece of s*** again?”
When she asked how he knew what she had been doing and whether he was tracking her, he told her that people had called him. When she arrived home, he began commenting on her clothes, which made her feel guilty for wearing leggings to the garage.
The next day, because of her concern about Pjankovas knowing where she was, a colleague told her that there was an app on the iPhone which allowed other people to track you. When she checked the “Find my iPhone” app, she realised that Pjankovas was listed as a person who could track her.
“She was completely unaware of this and knew that he had set it up without her permission,” said Mr Bradford. On January 8, she had an appointment with the police to speak to them about Pjankovas but, while she was there, her aunt rang to tell her that Pjankovas had rung her partner and she had got into an argument with him about the ex-girlfriend.
The woman repeatedly asked Pjankovas to leave her alone and move out of her home but he refused. He eventually did leave on January 17 but he quickly returned the next day and asked for an explanation about their separation.
He left his work clothes at her home and telephoned her to ask if he could wash them there. She felt that this was a tactic to stay involved with her and at her home for longer.
She said that she would wash them herself and would return them at a later date but he turned on her and said: “F***ing b***h. Why you always like this?” On January 19, the woman was driving down Beverley Road, Hull, when she saw Pjankovas in his own car.
She turned around to get away from him but he followed her. “He tried to conceal himself by weaving in and out of the car behind him,” said Mr Bradford.
“Eventually, she parked up outside Aldi on Sutton Fields and he followed her into the store.” He spoke about getting the rest of his stuff and she agreed.
On January 25, he began to text and call the woman repeatedly. “He would attempt to start conversations about random topics and would send several messages,” said Mr Bradford. “All of this was unwanted contact.”
On February 1, he sent her a nonsensical text message while she was out walking and he telephoned shortly afterwards and sent more text messages asking where she was. “She believed that he was attempting to follow her,” said Mr Bradford.
Later that day, she was talking with a friend about car insurance in her back garden and, at 8.52pm, he sent her a text message about car insurance. This alarmed her.
On February 2, the woman’s dog started barking and becoming distressed so she opened the blinds to see if anyone was outside. “She immediately saw the defendant in the car park, reversing out,” said Mr Bradford.
“He was looking directly into her property, which, again, extremely alarmed her. The unwanted contact did not cease, however.”
Pjankovas continued to telephone her on a new number, which she blocked. She also blocked him on all social media in an attempt to stop the contact from him.
He telephoned her on February 5, 12 and 13 and he sent a series of text messages during that month. On February 14, she was leaving work and, as she got into her car, he opened the driver’s door.
He handed her some flowers and a Pandora gift bag. “She was completely shocked to see him,” said Mr Bradford. “He continued to message her after that.”
On February 15, he went to her home and tried to speak to her. She told him to collect his belongings and leave but he insisted on speaking to her and kept trying to prevent her from closing the door.
“She kept trying to get him to leave,” said Mr Bradford. The next day, he went to her home and told her that he had left some items on her doorstep. When the police went to her home, they found a tracker on her car. He had put it there.
Pjankovas had to represent himself in court, with the help of a Lithuanian interpreter, after a series of adjournment to give him time to find solicitors who could arrange for a barrister to represent him. He was given one last chance to do so but still did not find anybody.
During earlier hearings, he disputed parts of the prosecution case but, at the latest hearing, he said that he regretted his behaviour and apologised for it. He had no previous convictions.
Pjankovas, who had been on bail, was jailed for two years and three months. He was given a 10-year restraining order and must pay a £228 victims’ surcharge.