Stalked by a stranger: Obsessed man travels to Scotland after seeing salon boss online

A salon boss was subjected to a terrifying stalking campaign by a man she had never met – after he spotted her photograph on social media.

Hairdresser Sarah Bennett was forced to move home and change her work patterns after Imrie Piroth became obsessed with her.

Piroth, a Hungarian artist who lives in London, repeatedly travelled to Glasgow to stand outside Sarah’s salon.

And Sarah, 29, was left feeling “violated” after learning Piroth, 42, had her picture as the screensaver on his phone and had a hand-drawn map of the area where she stayed and the places she walked her dog.

Sarah said: “I felt violated that someone had come in to my life like that.

“There’s never been any communication there at all, there’s never been any sort of dialogue.

“That’s what I think is the really scary part – someone that you’ve never uttered a word to tries to impose themselves in your life.”

Piroth began following Sarah’s business account on Instagram in October 2016 and sent her what she describes as a creepy message.

She ignored the message and blocked him, never engaging with him in any way.

He then began to make regular bus trips – which can take more than 10 hours – from London, in order to stand outside Sarah’s business, Bennett’s Hair and Beauty Salon, in the Glasgow suburb of Giffnock.

The first time Piroth went to see Sarah, on January 6 this year, he took dresses he made for her with him, wanting her to try them on and wear them.

He then made further trips to see her on March 13, May 13 and August 11.

Piroth would stare in through the salon windows, or pace up and down, and on one occasion went in, demanding to speak to Sarah, who was hiding in the back, before he was thrown out by a member of staff.

Piroth’s infatuation with Sarah came to a head on August 11 when he was arrested outside her work.

She has now spoken of the effect the ordeal had on her after Piroth was found guilty of stalking her following a trial at Paisley Sheriff Court.

Piroth speaks only broken English and had to be helped by an interpreter at his trial.

Sarah said: “I didn’t know anything about him or who he was.

“I thought he was going to come in and try to murder me.

“I was really worried. I work a lot of late nights to try to fit clients in.

“I was worried about being in by myself and worried clients would get put off in case he turned up.

“When they arrested him they found that the screensaver on his phone was a picture of me.”

Sarah was forced to leave the home she shared with courier husband Andrew Hart, 31, and move back in with her parents because Piroth knew so much about her life, whereabouts and routines.

Sarah says police advised her to change her working patterns to try to reduce the risk of incidents with Piroth, but she said she tried to retain a sense of normality by keeping to as many routines as she could.

And she said the amount of information Piroth knew about her showed he had done more than just look her up on social media – and had done some researching of his own.

“He drew a map of where I live and where I walk the dog.

“He would need to have really researched it and looked up flats on the canal.

“It’s different if you think someone could have looked something up but there’s no way he could have found it like that.

“Nothing is in my name that he could have found – it’s weirder that he’s found out.

“It’s not like it was a quick search and he could have found the information.

Piroth saw Sarah’s photo on her work Instagram account, where she shows potential clients what she does.

“The police said I couldn’t post anything online any more but I said, ‘I need to’.

“That’s my job, I need to make money, that’s how I get clients in the shop.

“Clients come from hours away because of the specialist hair extensions we do.

“I’m not not doing that for the sake of some random weirdo.

“If you do stop, you’re letting somebody like that win.”

And Sarah says her case should show others what they can do if they are unfortunate enough to find themselves in a similar situation.

She said: “People make comments saying, ‘That’s what happens when you post on social media’ – it’s not.

“That’s what happens when you get people who don’t know how to behave in a social situation to an acceptable standard. This is the age we are in – people’s lives are online, whether it’s for business or personal reasons.

“The whole business is built on social media, that’s how we started out.

“I wasn’t giving that up for someone who chooses to interpret it [my online presence] in a totally different way.

“I don’t want people to think they can’t post on social media.

“Social media is so important to peoples’ lives now, for their businesses and keeping in touch with family and friends.

“It needs to be stricter for people who don’t know how to behave in a civilised manner.

“It’s not about the social media –it’s about people having boundaries and knowing there are consequences if they choose to act in a certain way.

“Obviously I was really worried but I’ve got Andy and I’ve got my dad.

“I just think that if he’d done this to somebody who didn’t have people round about them to protect them, that could totally ruin their life.”

Sheriff Tom McCartney found Piroth, of London, guilty of engaging in a course of conduct which caused Sarah fear and alarm, in breach of Section 39(1) of the Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2010, by viewing her social media profiles, repeatedly attending at her work and loitering outside, staring at her, sending her letters and uploading letters on to Instagram.

He could be jailed for as long as 12 months for the offence when he returns to the dock next month to be sentenced.