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Tennis star Emma Raducanu targeted by stalker who stole shoe as ‘souvenir’

Emma Raducanu (REUTERS)
Emma Raducanu (REUTERS)

Emma Raducanu says she has been left feeling unsafe in her home after a stalker visited three times, a court heard.

The 19-year-old tennis star was left shaken after Amrit Magar, 35, travelled to the London suburb where she lives with her parents in November and asked strangers for her address.

He left bizarre notes and gifts at the house and even stole her father’s trainers after mistaking them for hers, the Daily Mail reported.

He claimed to be a delivery driver dropping off gifts for someone else when confronted by Raducanu’s parents.

On one occasion he left a note saying the teenager “deserved love” and on another he decorated a tree in Miss Raducanu’s front garden with Christmas lights.

The US Open champion says she is now worried about going out alone.

She said: “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.

“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.”

She said she was worried “about the stress of the public knowing I had a stalker”, adding: “I want to move to a new house with better security because I am worried he might come back as he knows where my home is.”

Giving evidence, Magar said he was ashamed of his actions.

He was found guilty at Bromley Magistrates’ Court yesterday of stalking. He will be sentenced next month.

District Judge Sushil Kumar said: "His (Magar’s) inability to explain how he did not think this was harassment is incapable of belief."