A Turkish asylum seeker who stalked a woman for more than two years and threatened to kill her and her family in what he described as a "murder‑suicide" has been jailed for six months.
Samet Arik, 23, admitted stalking involving serious alarm and distress at Wood Green Crown Court and was given an immediate custodial term after the judge said his conduct had caused the victim "very serious distress." The judge also imposed a 10‑year restraining order banning Arik from contacting the woman, identified in court papers as Dilan Turkman, or being in the vicinity of her or her parents.
Prosecutor Rhys Allen told the court the offending began in about March 2022, when the victim first noticed Arik sitting opposite her home watching the property. The behaviour escalated over the following years: in March 2023 the victim's vehicle was broken into and some items stolen, an incident during which Arik assisted in chasing suspects but reportedly did not speak to her. Shortly afterwards he moved into the same block of flats.
During July 2024 the victim, who worked in the area, ordered food from a restaurant where Arik was employed. A few days later she received messages from a number later attributed to him saying "you ruined my life." When she telephoned back, the prosecutor said, Arik told her he was in love with her, that he had moved to the block because of her and that he had obtained her number from the restaurant's computer.
The court heard the stalking included approaching the victim while she sat in her car late at night, standing within a metre of the vehicle and saying, "I've been watching you, I know you don't have a boyfriend, are you going to be mine?" She subsequently received as many as 20 calls a day from withheld numbers, and on several occasions saw Arik standing opposite her home at early hours.
The matter escalated on Sept. 4, 2024, while the victim was in Turkey, when her father told her someone had come to the front door. Neighbours heard the visitor, identified as Arik, threaten to kill the victim and her family and to follow the killings with his own death, the prosecutor said. Neighbours persuaded him to leave before police arrived.
In a victim impact statement read to the court, the woman said the campaign of stalking left her frightened and forced her to "change the way she lived," including selling her car and buying a new one the defendant would not recognise. She said she feared for her safety, citing examples of fatal attacks by obsessed men in Turkey.
Arik was admitted to Edgware Community Hospital on Sept. 7, 2024, and was diagnosed with a psychotic disorder attributed by medical staff to multiple substance misuse, including what his defence counsel later described as "cannabis‑induced psychosis." Defence lawyer Michael Shilliday told the court Arik accepted the episodes were largely because of cannabis misuse and said he no longer held ongoing beliefs that he and the victim were in love.
Ms. Recorder Jenni Dempster KC told Arik the offending had caused the victim "very serious distress" and that the threats to kill her and her family were particularly grave. She said the case was too serious to suspend the sentence. The judge noted Arik had been in custody since March 2024 and would serve "more than half" of the six‑month term in prison. She added that questions about his immigration status were for other authorities to decide.
Arik, of Haringey, admitted both the stalking charge and failing to attend court. The 10‑year restraining order prohibits him from contacting or being in the vicinity of the victim or her parents; the judge warned that breaching the order carries a potential sentence of up to five years' imprisonment.
Court papers say Arik has no leave to remain in the United Kingdom and has claimed asylum from Turkey on the basis he feared ill treatment if conscripted and because he is Kurdish. The Home Office and immigration authorities were not reported to be involved in Monday's sentencing hearing.