A stalker who posted photos of a woman on social media in a four-month “torrent of hate” has been slapped with a five-year court order and a suspended jail sentence.

Misbah Ali, a 22-year-old from Repton Street in Stepney, conducted a campaign of hate in his fixation for a woman who had blocked him on her Twitter account.

He followed her in the street to her university and tried to strangle her, begging to be unblocked on her social media.

Ali admitted disclosing sexual images and stalking at Snaresbrook Crown Court, and was given a two-year suspended sentence and a five-year restraining order prohibiting him contacting or referring to his victim on any social media platform.

It means he could end up behind bars if he breaches the restraining order from now until 2026.

“Ali subjected her to a torrent of hate over time and his fixation caused her serious distress,” Det Sgt Lee Gordon said after his sentencing. “He made false allegations about her to police, but his actions demonstrated a blatant disregard for her safety and welfare as he continued his quest to ruin her life.”

Ali started harassing the woman in December 2019, which went on for the next four months, following her in the street, sending threatening messages and publicly embarrassing her by posting personal photos on Twitter.

He grabbed her in a headlock in one attack, demanding to know why she had blocked him on social media, then confronted her at her university in an attempt to know her new number, before snatching her phone and laptop and hitting her head with it.

He also tried to strangle her, the court heard.

The harassment, which included recording a video message while standing in her back garden wanting to know where her bedroom was, went on until March last year.

The Met Police local public protection unit has since launched an appeal following Ali's court case to urge other women who have been suffering from stalking or harassment to come forward and speak to them.