A BRIT stalker travelled to Bali with a rope in his suitcase after threatening to kidnap an influencer he hounded with sexual messages, a court heard.
Rob Keating allegedly sent “incessant and constant” emails and video messages to Alexandra Saper, 33.
Alexandra Saper was allegedly stalked by a Brit[/caption]
She told the court she was forced to flee Bali[/caption]
Jurors heard the 39-year-old booked a one-way ticket to Bali, telling Alexandra: “Flights booked baby girl”.
He then told the travel blogger “you’re never getting rid of me” after landing, Portsmouth Crown Court was told.
Former lawyer Alexandra, who now earns a living from her Instagram page ‘The Wayfaress’ which has over 100,000 followers, told the jury that she was forced to flee the country in fear.
Recalling the alleged ordeal, she added: “He sent me a photo of a body in a suitcase and said he was going to kidnap me.”
Alexandra said she saw pictures on Keating’s Instagram page that showed he had visited one of her regular bars in Bali.
Keating also went to a cafe just 50 metres from her house – causing the influencer to have a panic attack, it was said.
Alexandra reported him to the police in Bali, and spoke to the US and the UK embassies in the country.
Keating was arrested on his arrival back to the UK in March 2023 where police found “black rope” in his suitcase, the court heard.
Prosecutor Alexandra Bull said he first got in touch with Alexandra in 2022 by sending her a “weird and creepy” message on Instagram.
She replied asking “Dude, why are you following me if you don’t like my content” before blocking him.
But Keating, who was living in his sister’s garage at the time, found her business email and began bombarding her, jurors heard.
The messages turned “intense” and “sexual in nature” later in 2022, it was said.
In September that year, Keating described having sex with Alexandra “to some length” in a video of himself talking to the camera.
Ms Bull added: “He was speaking to her as though they were in a relationship, like he was in love with her and she with him.”
In one email, Keating allegedly said he loved her and would do “whatever it takes” to be together.
He added: “If that involves kidnapping then so be it.”
In January 2023, Keating said he would quit his traffic job and “come and find her” in Bali.
At this point, he had sent her around 30 videos of himself talking to the camera alongside “hundreds” of emails, jurors heard.
In her video evidence, Alexandra said he thought she was sending him secret messages through her Instagram posts.
She added: “His interpretation of these posts was that they were secret coded messages about my love for him, or me asking him to come to Bali because I wanted to see him,” she said.
“He was convinced that I had asked him to come to Bali.”
Alexandra said she stopped posting on Instagram and had to cancel work projects as a result.
She also told the court she became “depressed” and stopped leaving the house because of Keating’s actions.
In his police interview, Keating claimed he was not sexually attracted to the influencer but accused her of showing an “interest” in him.
He allegedly continued the stalking campaign between September and November 2024 and posted a picture of a plane ticket from London to Bali with the caption “round 2” on his Instagram.
Keating denies two counts of stalking involving serious alarm or distress.
The trial continues.
Alexandra suffered a panic attack over the alleged stalking campaign[/caption]