A man who stalked a woman through the streets of Aberdeen at 3am before grabbing her around the waist has been placed on the sex offenders register.
Aberdeen Sheriff Court was told creepy meat packer Almeida Fernandes presented his victim with a single red rose and told her: “Do not worry. It’s okay. I’m coming home with you.”
The 43-year-old went on to follow her for around two miles before he was finally pushed away by the increasingly panicked woman’s boyfriend, who turned up at the scene after being alerted by phone.
Fiscal depute Stephanie Cardow told the court that the woman had finished work at around 3.10am on November 12 2022 and was walking up Bridge Street when she first encountered Fernandes.
Stranger presented woman with rose
He approached her by the Union Street traffic lights and presented her with a single rose, which he’d bought from a street seller.
The woman took the rose and thanked him before crossing into Union Terrace.
As she walked away, she noticed Fernandes begin to follow her and she asked him where he was going, to which he replied: “I come home with you.”
She informed him this would not be the case but he continued to follow her, repeating: “I come home with you.”
Fernandes began walking by her side as they reached His Majesty’s Theatre where the woman demanded that he leave her alone.
When he again ignored her, she called her partner using her mobile phone and informed him that a stranger was following her.
Due to the panic in her voice, he immediately left his property to find her.
The woman quickened her pace as she crossed traffic lights on George Street and turned to see that Fernandes was walking faster too.
He then grabbed her around the waist with both hands, forcing the woman to elbow him in the stomach to get him to let go.
Ms Cardow continued: “The complainer then shouted at him not to grab her – but the accused only responded by saying: ‘Do not worry. It’s okay. I come home with you.’
“She began to panic as she walked up Berryden Road onto Back Hilton Road with the accused still walking along by her side.”
As she reached the Spar store, she saw her partner walking towards her.
He tried to explain to Fernandes that he would be taking the woman home and that he should “leave immediately”.
As the couple walked away, they looked behind and saw Fernandes was still following.
Further, along the woman stopped due to having a sore foot at which point she was grabbed on the shoulder by Fernandes, who “appeared out of nowhere”.
Her partner then shoved Fernandes away and called 999.
When the police arrived and spoke to Fernandes, he claimed that he and the woman “were family”.
In the dock, Fernandes, an Indonesian national, pleaded guilty to one charge of sexual assault.
‘It did become more sinister’
Defence solicitor Mike Monro told the court that in the morning in question his client had “consumed such an amount of alcohol that he was very drunk”.
“For reasons only he knows, he decided to escort her home because he was concerned that a single young lady should be walking through Aberdeen city centre unaccompanied,” the lawyer said.
“That has always been his explanation – but he was obviously oblivious to the fact that it was all covered by CCTV.
“Mr Fernandes did not mean for it to become more sinister, but it did become more sinister when he took hold of her.
“He then makes the ludicrous comment to the police about them being related.”
Sheriff Lesley Johnston deferred sentence on Fernandes, of Sinclair Road, Aberdeen, in order for a criminal justice social work report and a restriction of liberty order assessment to be carried out.
She also placed Fernandes on the sex offenders register.
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