A chauffeur has received a community order after being convicted of stalking a Qatari princess with whom he believed he was in a relationship.
Jihad Abousalah, 47, worked as a driver for Haya Al-Thani, a member of the Qatari royal family, and began to believe they were a couple, Westminster magistrates court heard.
At an earlier hearing he admitted a charge of stalking the princess between 1 and 23 March. The prosecutor David Burns told the sentencing hearing on Friday: “The complainant [Al-Thani] was staying in Doha and began to receive a number of calls.”
Abousalah also visited the princess’s address and tried to give a member of staff flowers for her, the court heard. “The complainant said that the fact that it was her address left her feeling frightened,” Burns said.
The court heard that Al-Thani became so concerned about Abousalah’s behaviour that she asked her husband to hire private security. Burns told the court that the princess felt she needed additional protection for her and her children.
“The complainant has stated she has spoken to her husband about hiring bodyguards,” Burns said. “She said the whole incident has caused her alarm and distress. She has said she could not go about her normal day-to-day life. She feels she needs protection for herself and for her children.”
He said Al-Thani felt scared because Abousalah knew her children’s schedule, and that she often looked out of the window when she was at home to check if he was nearby.
Sundeep Pankhania, in mitigation, said his client suffered from mental illness at the time of the offending. “He had an ill-formed view that he was in a relationship with the princess,” he said. “He divorced his wife because he genuinely held that belief.”
Judge Ciecióra said she had carefully considered the contents of a medical report before sentencing Abousalah, and that his behaviour had caused the victim “very serious distress”.
“Your responsibility is substantially reduced by reason of your mental disorder,” she said. “I note your remorse and I accept that it was genuine.”
She sentenced Abousalah, of Park West, Edgware Road, to a 12-month community order as well as a 30-day rehabilitation activity requirement. She also put in place a three-year restraining order, ordering him to avoid Al-Thani and her husband, as well as the Hyde Park area.
