A serial stalker whose actions had chilling parallels to the character Martha from Netflix show Baby Reindeer has been banned for life from contacting two men.
Paralegal Kobe Langshaw, who harassed two lawyers, Patrick Gardner and Aaron Herbert, for eight years, has been banned from areas of Perth where her victims live, work and buy coffee.
When the ban was handed down at Perth Magistrates Court on Thursday, Langshaw, 37, repeatedly interrupted and argued with magistrate Belinda Coleman.
The court heard Langshaw had been sentenced on five other occasions for breaching violence restraining orders, stalking with intent to intimidate, lying to obtain bail, common assault and criminal damage.
Langshaw’s offenses have been compared to Martha in this year’s Netflix hit Baby Reindeer, who relentlessly stalks a waiter who showed her some kindness.
A serial stalker whose actions had chilling parallels to the character Martha (pictured) from hit Netflix show Baby Reindeer has been banned for life from contacting two men.
Langshaw, who represented herself in court, met criminal and family lawyer Patrick Gardner in 2015, when she was briefly his client.
The following year, he took out a restraining order for violence against her, The Australian reported.
The magistrate discovered that Langshaw was in love with Mr Gardner and had a bordering on pathological hatred for Mr Herbert.
Magistrate Coleman granted a police request for lifelong restraining orders on Langshaw, banning him from contacting the victims again.
He cannot be within 200 meters of them and is also banned from several streets in the suburb of Caversham, close to where both men live.
Langshaw claimed this was unfair as he needs to visit the Caversham area to see family and friends and had “always lived in that area”.
But this was not true, and Coleman said the only time Langshaw was listed as living there was in 2018, after he moved there to continue intimidating men.
The magistrate read out a list of addresses Langshaw had lived at since 2004, including Darch, Australind, Yokine and Bunbury.
“I have all his addresses and tenancy histories… There was no Caversham here until he moved there in 2018 (and) he started offending these men before that,” Ms Coleman said.
“I take everything you tell me, Mrs. Langshaw, with a grain of salt, unless there is independent evidence.” She has continually committed crimes against these men.
In a trial that began in 2022 and ended earlier this year, Coleman found Langshaw guilty of three counts of aggravated harassment.
The court was told of the extraordinary efforts Langshaw went to in searching for his victims.
On one occasion, he called the president of Mr Gardner’s football club, posing as an AFL official, and told him he had a referee’s award for him. The nocturnal reported.
He later appeared at the club’s awards night and refused to leave.
Paralegal Kobe Langshaw (pictured), who harassed two lawyers for eight years, has been banned from areas of Perth where her victims live, work and buy coffee.
On another occasion, Langshaw let his children play jumping rope just yards from Mr Gardner’s house, which was captured on CCTV.
He was also banned from the Family Court building in Perth due to the outbursts there.
“She is a very intelligent woman,” Mrs. Coleman said.
‘It is clear that he uses charm to manipulate others for personal gain.
‘She has a sense of superiority and is very stubborn. When challenged, she becomes hostile, but can instantly become sweet and simple again.
The magistrate said she found Langshaw’s behavior in court “very disconcerting”.
“It is clear that she was and remains completely in love with Mr. Gardner… on the first occasion he gave evidence, she stopped taking notes and stared at him the entire time. She did everything she could to avoid his relentless gaze.
Coleman said Langshaw “pulled her hair out of her ponytail and put it around her shoulders in an attempt to get (Mr. Gardner’s) attention.”
She said any suggestion that they had been intimate was a figment of Langshaw’s imagination.
Langshaw had an “uncanny ability” to create opportunities to stalk both Mr Gardner and Mr Herbert and was “terribly aware” of Mr Gardner’s movements, the magistrate said.
The magistrate wanted to sentence Langshaw, but a neuropsychological report he must take into account will take 20 weeks to complete because there are only two people in WA who do that work.
The report will determine whether Langshaw has a mental illness or disability and his likelihood of committing other similar crimes.
Langshaw was granted bail and will return to court for sentencing on October 10.
In one case involving another man, Langshaw concocted a fantasy that he was having a relationship with the man’s wife and harassed him with sexual details.
Last August she appeared at Kalgoorlie Magistrates’ Court, via video link from Bandyup Women’s Prison, where she had been detained for 742 days on various charges.
Langshaw’s offenses have been compared to those of Martha (pictured) in Baby Reindeer, who relentlessly stalks a waiter who showed her some kindness.
The harassment in that case was carried out mainly through phone calls and messages, rather than physical proximity, the Kalgoorlie Miner reported.
The messages included saying the man’s wife loved it when he worked late so Langshaw could spend more time with her and details about the bedding the couple had on their bed.
The magistrate in that case, Matthew Holgate, said it appeared to be “a recurring occurrence” for Langshaw to enter into inappropriate relationships with people he knew.
Daily Mail Australia contacted Gardner, who declined to comment, and also attempted to contact Herbert.
