A teenage girl was left too scared to leave her bedroom after one of her classmates began stalking her.
Leanna Robinson, 18, had been studying at Chesterfield College, Chesterfield, to join the Navy when she met 20-year-old Karime Elnagar, in September 2022 at the start of a new college term.
At first, their friendship seemed perfectly normal, with Leanna, then 17, telling Southern Derbyshire Magistrates’ Court that Elnagar seemed “nice” and “friendly”.
She said: “He was just another student really. He told me about his dogs, and he added me on social media which was fine with me.”
But things took a dark turn as Elnagar began spreading false rumours that Leanna’s boyfriend was abusing her and claiming he knew information about her.
He also threatened to involve the police, even though she’d done nothing wrong.
Leanna, from Derbyshire, said: “I put up with him stalking me for months. For weeks, I was trapped at home, too afraid to go anywhere on my own.
“But he began messaging me lots, and invited me to stay over with him, and get into his car, which made me feel uncomfortable.
“I had a part-time job in McDonalds, and he sent me photos from a different McDonalds asking: ‘Is this where you work?’
“I stopped talking to him and I didn’t respond to his messages. But then he began saying: ‘I know everything. You don’t need to explain’ and ‘I know people who know stuff about you.’”
It was then that Elnagar threatened to go to the police, even though the teen had done nothing wrong.
This left Leanna feeling “panicky” at what he might be capable of and at the same time Elnagar was spreading rumours that her boyfriend Kian was abusing her.
Her boyfriend coped well with it but Leanna reported Elnagar to the college, who began monitoring him.
But her stalker repeated his lies to her lecturers and then police.
Leanna said: “The police contacted me and said Karime had seen bruises up my arms, from my boyfriend, which was just not true. Kian was not in any way violent.
“I felt really threatened and afraid. I didn’t leave the house at all on my own, I didn’t use public transport. It caused stress between Kian and me and we split up.
“I couldn’t understand why Karime would target me and spread such horrible lies. He hardly knew me.”
Elnagar was charged with stalking and last week admitted the offence before Southern Derbyshire Magistrates.
The court heard how Elnagar sent unwanted online videos to the victim in which he told her how he wanted to sing songs for her.
Adjourning the hearing so that the probation service can interview the defendant and prepare a pre-sentence report, District Judge Jonathan Taaffe said: “You are in a serious position. You are clearly obsessed with this young lady, but she has no feelings towards you whatsoever.
“But for whatever reason you are in love with her, and she wants no dealings with you and the court will have to consider if custody is appropriate.”
Rosie McDaid, prosecuting, said Elnagar and the victim were studying together at Chesterfield College and she said she was on social terms with him only there and not outside their education.
She said the woman became aware that the defendant was spreading malicious rumours that her boyfriend was mistreating her which she said were categorically untrue.
The prosecutor read out a statement made by the victim. In it, she told how Elnagar began messaging her on Snapchat saying, “he said he would love to sing songs for me”.
Miss McDaid said: “She said on one occasion he asked her to join him in his car but she refused to get in and then he began sending her videos asking her what he had done wrong. She reported what was happening to her lecturer who said she would keep an eye on him.
“He said he worked for the RAF and would sort him (the innocent boyfriend) out and started making more false allegations about him. She said ‘I feel stressed and intimidated and just want him to leave me alone’.”
Miss McDaid said Elnagar was arrested and interviewed and told the police the victim was “terrified of her boyfriend and that he was in love with her”.
He pleaded guilty to one count of stalking. He will be sentenced at Chesterfield Magistrates’ Court on June 5 and was handed conditional bail by the judge.
The prosecution has applied for a restraining order on behalf of the victim.
