A judge said 67-year-old Zulfkar Ahmed has shown no remorse for his actions
18:52, 17 Apr 2026
Zulfkar Ahmed was sentenced to three years in prison for stalking
A pensioner bombarded a female cafe worker with thousands of unwanted text messages, a court has heard.
Zulfkar Ahmed continued to contact the woman even after being told to stop and being made subject of a staking protection order designed to protect the victim. He also stalked a shop worker he had encountered in the aisles – a female he referred to as “the pretty blonde girl”.
The 67-year-old’s barrister said the messages sent to the Cardiff cafe worker were “well-meant” and said that in his client’s “deluded state of mind” he thought “he was doing right when he was doing wrong”. Don’t miss a court report by signing up to our crime newsletter here.
Jailing the defendant for three years the judge said he had shown no remorse and no insight into his offending and he noted Ahmed had told a doctor he believed there was a conspiracy against him.
Cardiff Crown Court heard Ahmed bombarded the Pontcanna cafe waitress with thousands of messages, bought gifts for her, and turned up at locations in Cardiff where she was during a campaign of stalking lasting two and a half years.
The woman made it clear she wanted the defendant to stop and at one stage was granted a stalking protection order to stop Ahmed from contacting her but he carried on regardless and went on to send her another thousand messages.
In an impact statement which was read to the court by prosecution barrister Nuhu Gobir the victim said she used to be an outgoing person who loved her independent life but said her previous confidence had been replaced by “fear and uncertainty”.
She said she no longer works in the cafe but now has a job which, though she does not enjoy it, allows her to work remotely which makes her feel safer.
She said the defendant’s behaviour had affected every aspect of her life and left her “overwhelmed and exhausted”.
The woman said giving evidence and being cross-examined in court during the trial had been one of the most distressing experiences of her life and said “it felt like my reality was being distorted”.
The court heard Ahmed was also stalking a second woman who worked at a homeware shop in Cardiff. Such was his behaviour towards the woman – who he referred to as “the pretty blonde girl” – he was given a warning by bosses at the store.
Zulfkar Ahmed, of Corporation Road, Grangetown, Cardiff, had previously been convicted at trial of two counts of stalking and one count of breaching a stalking prevention order when he appeared in the dock for sentencing.
He has three previous convictions for three offences including an assault occasioning actual bodily harm from 1992 and obstructing an enforcement officer from 2012.
David Leathley, for Ahmed, said reports before the court detailed the defendant’s personality disorder and possible paranoia.
He said the messages sent to the cafe worker were “well-meant” and said in his client’s “deluded state of mind” he thought “he was doing right when he was doing wrong”.
The barrister said it had to be accepted that Ahmed had sent a thousand messages to the cafe worker after she had told him to stop but said in his submission “this is a man in need of help rather than punishment”.
Recorder Greg Bull KC said for reasons best known to himself the defendant had an interest in his victims and “hoped that interest would blossom romantically”.
He said he was satisfied the defendant had a paranoid personality rather than a psychiatric disorder and noted Ahmed had told a doctor who interviewed him that he thought the allegations were a conspiracy against him.
He said the defendant had shown no insight into his offending and had shown no remorse.
Ahmed was sentenced to three years in prison and will serve up to half the sentence in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community. He was made the subject of 15-year restraining orders in respect of the victims.
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