National News
Man guilty of harassment campaign
4:26pm Wednesday 15th February 2012
A jilted former City worker is facing a jail sentence after being found guilty of orchestrating a campaign of harassment against a doctor and her mother.
Al Amin Dhalla, 42, moved into the home of Dr Alison Hewitt, 35, in Brighton, East Sussex, months after meeting her through an elite online dating agency for professionals.
However relations soured after Dr Hewitt's family voiced concern over his "unseemly haste" to marry her and over lies they uncovered about Dhalla's past.
The couple split after a year, triggering a terrifying four-month campaign by stalker Dhalla in which he tried to burn down her mother and stepfather's home and hired a private investigator to snoop on her.
At Lewes Crown Court, ex-City auditor Dhalla was on Tuesday found guilty of seven counts, including arson being reckless as to whether life is endangered, attempted arson, harassment of Dr Hewitt and her mother, theft and damaging property.
He was found not guilty of two counts of the more serious charge of putting a person in fear of violence by harassment.
On Wednesday, following further deliberations, jurors also convicted Dhalla of perverting the course of justice, having an offensive weapon and found him not guilty of another theft charge.
Dhalla stalked Dr Hewitt by posing as a doctor at the hospital where she was due to start work and asked to see the trainee doctors' rota. He also bought two mini-crossbows and a 1.77 air pistol with ammunition for both and a van specially adapted to include a cage in the rear.
At the height of the harassment, police airlifted Dr Hewitt's mother Pamela Hewitt and stepfather David Gray from their holiday home on Lundy Island off the Devon coast amid fears for their safety.
Judge Charles Kemp adjourned sentencing to April 16 and requested psychiatric and probation service reports.