Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Harry Styles: I feared my homeless stalker Ex 1D star tells court of his torment
HARRY Styles is so terrified after being targeted by a stalker he tried to help that he still locks his bedroom door at night, a court heard.
Homeless Pablo Tarazaga-orero, 26, was found guilty of harassing the former One Direction singer for two months.
The star had taken pity on the Spaniard, offering to buy him food and put him up in a hotel after seeing him in a bus-stop near his North London home.
But the Hare Krishna follower trailed Mr Styles, 25, to a local pub several times and tried to grab him, the court head.
Giving evidence from behind a screen, the singer said he went to the police after the “erratic and frightening behaviour” left him feeling insecure at home.
He said: “I never really encountered this kind of behaviour before. I’ve employed a night guard. I continue to lock my bedroom at night.”
He also said he still checks for “weak spots” in his home.
Tarazaga-orero, wearing a beige coat and an orange purse around his neck, told the court Mr Styles approached him while he was half asleep at the bus stop, offering cash if he joined him at a hotel.
He said: “He took a bunch of notes, a ball of notes. He said ‘Let us come to a hotel, let us have some fun.’”
Asked by his lawyer what he thought that meant, he replied: “I understood he was buying me with money.”
He claimed Mr Styles propositioned him again the next day, only offering to buy him food when he refused. Mr Styles said Tarazaga-orero asked if he could have some edamame beans as he is vegan. The next day, the singer bought the man two sandwiches, two salads and two muffins from a vegan cafe, but decided to stop interacting with him following an “odd” incident. Tarazaga-orero claimed he posted Mr Styles notes asking for money because the star had offered him some already. Asked about a Whatsapp message where he referred to himself and God as protecting Mr Styles, Tarazaga-orero claimed he was mostly joking. “I was praying for Harry all the time. Also, it was kind of a joke.”
Judge Nigel Dean, at Hendon magistrates court, said yesterday of Harry’s offer to pay for a hotel: “I find the suggestion Mr Styles was suggesting he accompany him completely incredible.”
He added: “These were honest, good intentions from somebody who was trying to help another for whom he felt sorry and who was down on his luck.”
The judge said Tarazaga-orero “knew perfectly well” his later behaviour “amounted to harassment of Mr Styles”.
Tarazaga-orero was released on conditional bail to be sentenced next week for one count of stalking during April and May this year.