Prison sentence for stalking and harassment offences

A man has been given a lifetime ban from entering Leicestershire following a campaign of harassment against a woman he met while looking for work.

Jan Schlossar was convicted on Tuesday 15 November, at Leicester Magistrates’ Court after pleading guilty to harassment and breaching a restraining order against his terrified victim.

He was sentenced to 12 weeks for the breach and 23 weeks for harassment, to run concurrently.

The 41-year-old, of no fixed address, met his victim, 32, only once when he walked into the recruitment agency where she worked in Leicester looking for work in March this year.

That face-to-face conversation was the only one they ever had but it led to months of harassment from Schlossar, who began bombarding her with messages asking her out. He bought her a wedding ring, turned up at her place of work on several occasions with gifts and moved to Leicestershire in an attempt to be closer to her.

His messages gradually became sexually explicit and abusive. He sent videos of himself touching himself inappropriately to her work phone. The victim eventually told her employers and they reported this to the police.

Schlossar previously pleaded guilty to two counts of stalking without serious alarm and distress and was handed a life time restraining order, but within two hours of his release from prison on 16 September, he had contacted his victim again leading to his arrest and remand. 

On Tuesday, the court was shown 13 videos posted by Schlossar to Instagram in which he told her he loved her and begged her to be with him and have his children.

Prosecuting solicitor Mohammed Zarandouz told the court that his victim was “living in absolute hell” and had started scratching her skin until it bled as a result of her stress.

He said: “She can’t sleep and she can’t eat. Her head constantly pounds and she is always tired. She feels like she can’t ever let her guard down and that her life will never be the same again. She has a deep fear that he will get to her and rape her.”

In sentencing, chair of magistrates, Jane Morton-Humphries, told Schlossar he was never to contact the victim again or to enter Leicestershire unless passing through for work purposes or with a specific appointment to see his solicitor.

She said: “If you contact her again or post anything mentioning her name, you will be back in prison.”

Following Schlossar’s conviction, the victim thanked the officers in the case – PC Vishal Dave and DC Josh Evans.

She said: “I have never in my life experienced something so consistently horrific. It has changed me beyond words but I feel like a weight has been lifted now that he cannot enter Leicestershire.

“I can’t thank them enough for supporting me through this and doing everything they can to make me feel safe. They kept in constant touch with me - so much so that at times, if I felt scared to walk back to my car, they were there to walk with me. They dealt with everything so seriously and with a real urgency.

“I hope that this really is the end. I will always be grateful for everything they did to reassure me and to keep me living a normal life.”

DC Evans said: “I was immediately concerned the moment that I was given this case. Schlossar was fixated and obsessed with his victim. I knew that keeping her safe was the priority throughout the whole ordeal. She has been incredibly brave and I hope this is the start of her being able to lead a normal life again. 

“I believe that preventing Schlossar from entering Leicestershire will be vital in giving her the confidence to get back to leading the life she deserves.”