A Longsight market stall holder who stalked two female café workers, sending love letters to one and calling the other the “daughter he never had”, has been sentenced at Manchester Crown Court.
Jitander Mistry, 56, known as Jaz, subjected staff at Colin’s Café in Longsight to a prolonged campaign of harassment that left his victims terrified to leave their homes. The court heard how Mistry threatened to “smash the face in” of one woman after witnessing her speaking to another man, and later threatened to bring a knife to the café.
Manchester Crown Court was told that Mistry’s behaviour escalated from initially friendly interactions to an obsessive pattern of stalking that forced police intervention and resulted in him being banned from Longsight Market.
From Regular Customer to Obsessive Stalker
Tobias Collins, prosecuting, told the court that Mistry operated a clothes stall at Longsight Market and was initially a regular customer at Colin’s Café. In 2022, he appeared shy before becoming more confident and striking up what seemed to be a normal friendship with staff members.
“He described how prior to this offending, the defendant told her his former partner was working as a prostitute, then he began behaving strangely towards her,” Mr Collins explained to the court.
The prosecution detailed how Mistry’s behaviour quickly deteriorated from friendly interactions to unwanted physical contact and persistent requests for personal information. He would enter the café with his arms outstretched expecting hugs and repeatedly demanded phone numbers from female staff members.
One victim, who had initially tried to avoid giving Mistry her number, eventually relented under pressure. She soon found herself receiving what the court described as “long love letters” from the defendant.
Threats of Violence Escalate
The harassment took a sinister turn when Mistry began monitoring the social interactions of café staff. After seeing one of the women speaking to another market stall holder, Mistry sent threatening messages to other staff members.
“He would send messages suggesting he had seen the woman ‘flirting’ with another stall holder and that he would ‘get a hammer and smash their faces in’,” the prosecutor told the court.
Judge Timothy Smith, presiding over the case, addressed Mistry directly during sentencing: “Your obsession was entirely misplaced, ill-judged and ill-conceived.”
The court heard how Mistry developed a similar fixation on another female staff member, bombarding both her and her mother with unwanted messages. This disturbing pattern of behaviour prompted one of the victims to contact Greater Manchester Police in late 2022.
Brazen Behaviour in Front of Police
In a shocking display of his disregard for boundaries, Mistry arrived at the café whilst police officers were inside taking statements from his victims. The court heard how he attempted to embrace one of the staff members before being escorted from the premises by officers.
The harassment continued into January 2023, when Mistry wrote a letter to one of his victims demanding a birthday card from all café staff. His message contained a chilling threat: “something would happen to them” if they failed to comply with his demand.
Following complaints from café manager Colin Woods and other staff members, market management took action, banning Mistry from the premises for 12 months. However, this failed to deter his campaign of harassment.
Disturbing Messages Continue Despite Ban
Even after being banned from the market, Mistry’s obsessive behaviour escalated. He began sending increasingly disturbing messages, referring to one of the women as “a daughter he never had” and calling her his “little girl”.
The threats became more violent and specific. Mistry threatened to attend the café armed with a knife and expressed a desire to strangle the market manager, whom he described using offensive language as a “froggy b***h” who “needed a slap”.
These threats represented a significant escalation in Mistry’s behaviour and demonstrated his complete disregard for the restraining measures put in place to protect his victims.
Devastating Impact on Victims
The court heard powerful victim impact statements that laid bare the psychological toll of Mistry’s relentless harassment. One victim described being left “terrified” and unable to walk to work alone, requiring constant companionship for her safety.
“She said she no longer trusted people and would only go out to the front of the shop to greet customers,” the court was told. The woman revealed she would “freeze” at the thought of encountering Mistry again and had been forced to sleep on her mother’s sofa since the offences began, as Mistry knew her home address.
In a heartbreaking statement, she told the court: “I just want my life back.”
The victim’s mother also provided a statement detailing the wider impact on the family. She described suffering from mental health issues as a result of her daughter’s ordeal and feeling like she was “constantly looking over her shoulder.
“I used to go to the café all the time, I am too scared to go there now,” she said, explaining how she lived in constant fear for her daughter’s safety and was “constantly checking on her daughter to make sure she was safe.”
Defence Mitigation
Tom Sherrington, mitigating for Mistry, told the court that the two women who worked at the café had been “critical” in helping his client emerge from a depressive episode prior to the offences.
However, this mitigation appeared to carry little weight given the severity and prolonged nature of Mistry’s campaign of harassment against the very people who had shown him kindness.
Understanding Stalking Sentencing
Stalking and harassment are classed as offences under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 and (where the offending is racially or religiously aggravated) the Crime and Disorder Act 1998. The court would have considered various factors in determining Mistry’s sentence.
For both harassment and stalking, the offence is more serious if it is racially or religiously motivated, that is carried out because of someone’s racial or ethnic origin or their religion or lack of religion. The sentencing guidelines require courts to assess both the culpability of the offender and the harm caused to victims.
For stalking causing serious alarm or distress the maximum sentence is six months imprisonment, for the offence causing fear of violence the maximum sentence is 10 years imprisonment (for an offence on or after 2 April 2017; 5 years for offences prior to that date).
The persistent nature of Mistry’s behaviour, the threats of violence, and the substantial impact on his victims’ daily lives would have been significant factors in the court’s sentencing decision.
Wider Context of Stalking Prosecutions
Mistry’s case reflects a growing recognition of the serious harm caused by stalking and harassment offences. Through the Policing and Crime Act 2017 the maximum sentences for the most serious harassment and stalking were increased from 5 to 10 years’ imprisonment.
Recent years have seen authorities take an increasingly robust approach to stalking cases. Detective Constable Thomas Small, of Longsight CID, said: “Stalking can have a devastating effect on a victim and their loved ones, and I hope this sentencing shows that we take any reports of stalking and harassment seriously, and is committed to bringing anyone found responsible to justice.”
The case also highlights the importance of early intervention. Stalking protection orders were introduced in January 2020 and protect victims by addressing the perpetrator’s behaviours before they become entrenched or become more severe.
A Community Left Shaken
The impact of Mistry’s actions extended beyond his direct victims to affect the wider Longsight Market community. Colin’s Café, located within the market on Dickenson Road, had been a popular gathering spot for traders and shoppers alike.
The case serves as a stark reminder of how one individual’s obsessive behaviour can shatter the sense of safety and community that local businesses work hard to foster. Market management’s swift action in banning Mistry demonstrated their commitment to protecting traders and customers, though his continued harassment despite the ban highlighted the challenges in enforcing such measures.
For the victims and their families, the psychological scars of Mistry’s campaign of harassment will likely persist long after the legal proceedings have concluded. The courage shown by the victims in reporting the offences and providing evidence has been crucial in bringing Mistry to justice.
As one victim poignantly stated in court, all she wanted was her life back – a simple wish that Mistry’s obsessive behaviour had made seem impossibly out of reach. The court’s sentence reflects society’s growing understanding that stalking is not merely an inconvenience but a serious crime that can devastate lives and requires robust legal response.
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