The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)

Woman tells court she was stalked by mystery man

Deivydas Metrikis faces two charges of stalking women in Perth

- Mark Mackay mmackay@thecourier.co.uk

A woman has told a court of her terror as she came to realise she was being stalked by a mystery man.

Face shielded with a baseball cap and sunglasses, even in bad weather, she said he tailed her wherever she went.

Deivydas Metrikis allegedly dogged her steps while she worked-out, followed her through the streets of Perth and lurked outside her place of work.

She said he began to enter her workplace on a regular basis and finally tracked her down on social media and attempted to make contact.

It was then, after discussing her fears during a family meal, that she turned to the police.

Metrikis, 26, denies two charges of stalking women in the city to their fear and alarm.

During evidence, the woman told jurors he began to pass her workplace up to four times a day, looking through the windows.

She said he was to be found lurking across the road, waiting for her to finish work, and on more than one occasion she said colleagues had felt moved to accompany her to her car.

On another occasion, as he is said to have peered around a building in the dark, the witness said she had spotted him and fled back inside. She said: “I was terrified by this point.” As matters escalated, she said he had begun to come into her place of work on a regular basis, making inquiries before leaving.

On another occasion he is said to have asked after a job vacancy.

Finally, in the days before she contacted the police, he is said to have tracked her down on social media and sent her a friend request.

The court was shown copies of messages said to be from him which read “Hello Baby !!!!! Here we Go!”

Metrikis, described as a prisoner at Perth, denies that on various occasions between July 1 2016 and January 9 2017, at various locations in the city, he engaged in a course of conduct that caused a woman fear and alarm.

He also denies engaging in a course of conduct that caused a second woman fear and alarm, between December 26 and 28 last year, by repeatedly attending at her place of work despite being told he was not welcome, engaging her in conversati­on and handing her a written communicat­ion.

The trial, before a jury of eleven women and four men and Sheriff Lindsay Foulis, continues.

I was terrified by this point

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