Obsessed stalker sent videos describing his '50 Shades of Grey'-style fantasies following kidnap threat, court hears

In a video Rob Keating sent to American social media personality Alexandra Saper, he also said: 'I'm going to tie you up to this bed right here and I'm going to spank you'.

The reference to the best selling erotic novels was made during an hour of video footage shown to a jury of clips that Keating sent to Ms Saper over the course of almost a year. Referring to her as his 'Spartan Queen' he 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 travelled from Havant to the Indonesian paradise island on a one-way ticket with rope in his luggage, the court has been told. Keating, a traffic worker, has pleaded not guilty at Portsmouth Crown Court to two counts of stalking involving serious alarm or distress.

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.

Video footage from clips that Keating sent via email to Ms Saper between August 2022 and January 2023 were shown to the jury where he described his sexual fantasies involving Ms Saper.

Most videos are filmed inside his sister's garage in Havant, 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 wants to 'punish' Ms Saper and 'breathe on' her, and described his fantasies. In a video filmed the next month, Keating said 'I want to go 50 Shades of Grey on you', referencing the erotic novel by EJ James, and told Ms Saper he had flights leftover 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 implied that he would remain celibate for her. In the same month, he also said that he believed she was 'allowing him' to 'run with it' regarding his contact with her, but added: "Either that, or you're not interested and not watching these videos and I've lost my mind or something."

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.”

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' - he often referred to Ms Saper as his 'queen' - and said 'I'm trying on some disguises'.

Speaking about himself in the third person, he said: "He's the man who wanders around at night and looks for intelligent attractive females to have his way with."

Keating later said '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," he said.

Three days later, Keating again said 'I'm out here practising my disguises ready for your imminent kidnap'. Keating travelled to Bali at the end of January 2023.

Giving evidence behind a screen in court, the influencer - who earns a living from her Instagram page ‘The Wayfaress’ - spoke of the ordeal.

She said: "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.

"I blocked him on everything and never responded, so that was a pretty clear indication of not wanting contact," she said.

However, Ms Saper said 'I knew things weren't getting through to him like a normal person'.

Before Keating arrived in Bali, she hadn't believed that he would actually travel to the country. The influencer said: "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 forced by police to send him an email - written and sent by her 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. From there, she informed her social media followers that she was being stalked.

She told the court that she didn't share anything publicly until she'd contacted the police in the UK and the US. "I shared because I wanted my life back, there was nothing I could do staying in hiding," she said. "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 that 'she had shown an interest in him and there could be something there' between the two of them.

He allegedly continued to stalk Ms Saper between September and November 2024, at which point he lived in Horsham and was arrested again.

The trial continues.