A CAFE owner who stalked a terrified woman played Iron Maiden's 'Run to the Hills' through her speaker as he prowled outside her home.
Akram Arebi, 43, preyed on his victim, who was left so traumatised she considered fleeing to England.
During a two year, campaign of terror, he also bombarded the victim with text messages, threatened to post intimate photos online and secretly tracked her to a restaurant.
READ MORE: Man accused of 'inciting other football supporters' after Glasgow Rangers match
Arebi - who has a previous firearms conviction - could now face a possible jail term after he pleaded guilty at Glasgow Sheriff Court to stalking the woman between April 2017 and September 2019.
The hearing was told how Arebi had go to know the victim through a business they were both involved in.
He ended up hounding the woman becoming jealous when he saw her with another man.
Arebi also turned up at an airport knowing she would be there.
She eventually blocked his number after he repeatedly phoned and messaged her.
Fuming Arebi then appeared at the woman's home in the city's Strathbungo in May 2017.
Prosecutor Stewart McLean said the cafe boss repeatedly rang her doorbell.
The fiscal then added: "Her Sonos speaker started to play Run to the Hills by Iron Maiden.
"Arebi had access to this from before, so she unplugged the speaker from her room and crawled in the dark to the kitchen where she saw him from the kitchen window standing in the street smiling."
READ MORE: Funeral of tragic Hamilton teenager Amber Gibson takes place
Arebi, of the city's Finnieston, went on to claim he could not live without the scared woman.
The court heard she was later out at the Hanoi Bike Club restaurant in Glasgow's West End when she got a text from Arebi.
It was a photo of the eaterie - with the tagline stating: "This is where you are now."
She had not told the stalker she was going there.
He then sent a message moaning she had not told him where she was.
Arebi continued to be "controlling and manipulative" which included making slurs against the woman on social media.
The traumatised victim sought legal help to keep Arebi away from her.
Fiscal Mr McLean said: "She checked an old phone and there were then messages threatening to upload abusive videos of her on to a porn site."
The woman went on to receive a call from a woman called "Bex", who claimed Arebi had asked her to get in touch to state his own phone had been "hacked".
Arebi also pleaded guilty to being threatening and abusive to another woman as well as a man he sold a laptop to in 2016.
The buyer had taken Arebi to court due to problems with the computer.
He then made abusive remarks about the man including online.
Ryan Sloan, defending, told the court: "There is no excuse for this type of behaviour and he accepts that.
"He has enterprises and is known in the Finnieston area - he runs a cafe which is a hub for the community.
"He is a well-known and well liked business man."
The lawyer stated Arebi’s previous convictions include a firearms offence in which he was found with an air rifle he claimed was for hunting rabbits.
Sheriff Jonathan Guy deferred sentencing for reports and Arebi had his bail continued.
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel