British 'stalker' told American influencer she needed 'kidnap insurance' before following her to Bali and threatening to 'go 50 Shades of Grey' on her, court told
- Rob Keating, 39, from Havant in Hampshire, denies two charges of stalking
A British stalker who travelled to Bali after threatening to kidnap a US travel influencer told her that he wanted to 'go 50 Shades of Grey' on her, a court heard.
In a video Rob Keating sent to social media personality Alexandra Saper, he also suggested she needed 'kidnap insurance' and threatened, 'I'm going to tie you up to this bed right here and I'm going to spank you', a trial was told.
The reference to the bestselling S&M themed erotic 50 Shades Of Grey novels written by author E.L. James was included in an hour of footage shown to a jury of clips, involving clips Keating sent to Ms Saper over the course of almost a year.
Referring to Ms Saper as his 'Spartan Queen', Keating warned her he was practicing his 'disguises' and that she needed to take out 'kidnap insurance' - adding: 'I will see you when you agree to meet me, or I have a suitcase for you to fit in.'
Following his 'incessant' messaging, the 39-year-old defendant travelled to the Indonesian island Bali on a one-way ticket with rope in his luggage, Portsmouth Crown Court heard.
Giving evidence in person, Ms Saper, 33, said that after reporting him to local police in Bali, they forced her to act as 'bait' for Keating by agreeing to meet him in public before she escaped by travelling to Laos.
The influencer is a former lawyer who now earns a living from her Instagram page called 'The Wayfaress', which has more than 100,000 followers.
Keating is a traffic worker who was living in his sister's garage in the Hampshire town of Havant at the time of the alleged offences.
A British alleged stalker has been accused of travelling to Bali after threatening to kidnap US travel influencer Alexandra Saper (pictured)
Rob Keating (pictured), from Havant in Hampshire, has pleaded not guilty to two counts of stalking involving serious alarm or distress at Portsmouth Crown Court
Ms Saper (pictured) subsequently flew to Laos - a country further north in South East Asia - because she was concerned about her safety
He has pleaded not guilty to two counts of stalking involving serious alarm or distress.
Video footage from clips that Keating sent via email to Ms Saper between August 2022 and January 2023 have been shown to the jury.
In one undated video, Keating described a sexual fantasy in which he told the influencer: 'I'm going to tie you up to this bed right here and I'm going to spank you.'
Most videos are filmed inside his sister's garage, where he was living at the time he sent them, but some are filmed outside or while he appears to be at work. In some, he can be seen wearing a high-vis jacket.
In a video filmed in August 2022, Keating said he wanted to 'punish' Ms Saper and 'breathe on' her, and described his fantasy of touching her intimately.
In a video filmed the next month, Keating said, 'I want to go 50 Shades of Grey on you', and told Ms Saper he had flights left over from lockdown which he could use.
Keating said in another video that his 'ability to meet women has rocketed' since he began contacting Ms Saper, but suggested that he would remain celibate for her.
In the same month, he also said he believed she was 'allowing him' to 'run with it' regarding his contact with her, before adding: 'Either that, or you're not interested and not watching these videos and I've lost my mind or something.'
Alexandra Saper (pictured) has told the court she started receiving emails from her alleged stalker on an almost daily basis
Alexandra Saper is pictured here outside Portsmouth Crown Court on Tuesday this week
In a video from December 2022, Keating said: 'You're going to have to reply to me eventually - there's talk about coming to Bali to get you.'
In a video filmed early the next month, Keating said: 'Things you're going to need for 2023: number one, kidnap insurance against white British men who keep sending you messages.
'Either you're going to be relationshipped, or kidnapped, one of these things is going to happen.
'Number two: You're going to have to prepare yourself for silly jokes and fun.
'Number three: The third thing you're going to need - do I say - a bouncier bed. That's a bit crude, I don't like that terminology.'
Later in the same video, he said: 'I will see you when you agree to meet me, or I have a suitcase for you to fit in. Be warned - get insurance.'
On January 15, Keating sent Saper a video in which he described looking for 'intelligent attractive females' at night.
He called the video the 'Spartan queen kidnap show' and said 'I'm trying on some disguises'.
Ms Saper (pictured) was said to have become particularly alarmed when Keating allegedly travelled to Bali and began visiting places she was known to frequent
Ms Saper, 33, is a former lawyer who earns a living from her Instagram page The Wayfaress
Speaking about himself in the third person, Keating said: 'He's the man who wanders around at night and looks for intelligent attractive females to have his way with.'
Keating later added: 'He knows his Spartan queen is getting kidnapped, she's getting put in his suitcase.
'What I would give now to pick up that suitcase and go to the airport and get on with this.'
Three days later, Keating again said: 'I'm out here practising my disguises ready for your imminent kidnap. I can come and shove you in my suitcase and kidnap your a**.
'I will put you in a Bali villa and you will become a Spartan queen.'
Keating travelled to Bali at the end of January 2023.
Giving evidence behind a screen, Ms Saper spoke of the ordeal, telling the court: 'He was sending me 15 emails a day telling me where he was and what he was doing.'
Ms Saper was able to see the emails because they were being sent to her spam folder, rather than being automatically deleted.
The alleged stalking began when Keating sent a message to Alexandra Saper (pictured) on Instagram in 2022, the court heard
Ms Saper told the trial that she did not share anything publicly until she had contacted the police in the UK and the US
She added: 'I blocked him on everything and never responded, so that was a pretty clear indication of not wanting contact.
'I knew things weren't getting through to him like a normal person'.
Before Keating arrived in Bali, she had not believed that he would really travel to the country, saying: 'I was aware that he was talking about coming to Bali, but I didn't think it would actually happen.'
Keating sent her a picture of a one-way ticket to the Indonesian island prior to his arrival.
Ms Saper said that after Keating arrived in Bali, she was told by police to send him an email - written and sent by a friend from her account - saying that she wanted 'no more contact' with him but that they should meet in a 'public place'.
She said this was meant to be bait for Keating, but did not say what the result of this email was.
On why she sent this email, she said: 'There was a man who was trying to find me and hurt me in my own home and the police said they wouldn't do anything to help unless I did this.'
The police did not help, however, and she fled to Laos so that they were no longer in the same country because she was 'terrified' of him, the court heard.
Ms Saper said that after Keating arrived in Bali, she was told by police to send him an email - written and sent by a friend from her account - saying that she wanted 'no more contact'
Giving evidence behind a screen, Ms Saper (pictured on social media) told of the ordeal, saying: 'He was sending me 15 emails a day telling me where he was and what he was doing.'
From there, she informed her social media followers that she was being stalked.
She told the trial that she did not share anything publicly until she had contacted the police in the UK and the US.
Ms Saper said: 'I shared because I wanted my life back - there was nothing I could do staying in hiding. I was sick, I couldn't eat, I was depressed.
'The police didn't do anything to help me and this was my last-ditch effort.'
Keating was arrested on his arrival back in the UK in March 2023 and a 'black rope' was found in his suitcase, the court heard.
He told police in an interview that he was not sexually attracted to Ms Saper, but said 'she had shown an interest in him and there could be something there' between them.
He allegedly continued to stalk Ms Saper between September and November last year, while he was living in Horsham in West Sussex, before being arrested again.
The trial continues.
