South London stalker 'used tracking device to terrorise woman'

Jamiel Grant, 29, stalked his ex-partner and mother of his young son for two years after she broke up with him in 2020. 

Grant, of Grove Road in Mitcham, appeared at Southwark Crown Court on Wednesday (June 7) after he pleaded guilty to stalking involving fear of violence, robbery and assault. 

Between October 2020 and October 2022 Grant repeatedly turned up at her home refusing to leave. On some occasions he kicked at her door and tapped on her windows in the middle of the night, the court heard. 

On one occasion, Boxing Day 2020, he entered her home without her knowledge then attacked her after she asked him to leave, prosecutor George Skinner said. 

Grant wrapped his arms around her neck so she couldn’t breathe, then smothered her with a pillow before leaving, the court heard. 

He would repeatedly ‘bump into’ her when she was out and about. The regularity with which he this caused her to believe he was tracking her movements, Mr Skinner said. 

When Grant was eventually arrested police found that he had searched for and purchased a tracking device, the court heard. 

Judge Hales KC told Grant: “You had a tracking device and if you were using it to track her movements, and it seems you were, then your offending involved a degree of planning.” 

In a victim impact statement, the woman said she had to uproot her family and move home four times to escape him. 

She said: “I always feel I have to park far away from my home, not directly outside, just in case he has followed me, and I am forced to uproot my family again.” 

She added: “It sounds silly because I was even scared to have conversations on my phone because I was convinced he was listening.” 

Jamiel Grant has been jailed for four and a half years (Image: Metropolitan Police)

Grant would also repeatedly send her abusive messages by text, phone, email and social media, the court heard. 

On October 5, 2022, she was walking home when he ran past her and grabbed her rucksack which contained her phone and laptop. 

Grant was later arrested and police found her bag in his property. He denied any involvement in a robbery, saying the bag had been planted. 

When the laptop and phone were returned to the victim she found that abusive emails that he had sent to her had been deleted off the devices. Fortunately she had taken photos of them earlier so had proof. 

Grant had been in prison for eight months after he was arrested and court proceedings were taking place. 

The victim said: “I am concerned that when he is released from prison he will target me again. I genuinely believe that he might do the same thing to another woman.” 

She added that if she did not contact police she is not sure how this would have ended. 

"I just don't know how someone could do this to the mother of his child, constantly breaking down the person who is raising his son," the victim said.

Grant pleaded guilty to stalking and assault at a late date. 

Southwark Crown Court was told that he had a previous conviction for breaching a restraining order relating to a different former partner. 

The court was told that Grant had been in care as a child which explained his difficulties forming mature relationships. 

Grant said he was sorry for his actions but the judge concluded that his apologies were not altogether sincere. 

Judge Hales said: “You minimise your responsibility and seek to apportion blame in her direction. As your previous convictions reveal, this is an emerging patter in your relationships.” 

Grant was sentenced to four and a half years in prison.