'Stalker' accused of targeting socialite

AN alleged stalker mounted a harassment campaign against an aristocrat, including standing outside her home, staring and making strangling noises, a court heard.

- By James Sharp

Mirsad Veliji, 43, pestered Lady Martha Sitwell, 45, from April to August 2022, an Isleworth Crown Court jury was told.

Prosecutors said he stood in front of her flat in Kensington, West London, in July 2022 and made a strangling noise before watching Ms Sitwell. On another occasion Veliji allegedly “cycled very close to Ms Sitwell and laughed out loud”.