I had to help my stalker free himself after he got stuck in curtains as he climbed through my window

A STALKER had to be helped by his victim after getting stuck in curtains as he climbed in through her window.

Amy Harland had to untangle trapped security guard Richard Holka from drapes on her stairs.

She decided to help him because she did not want the curtains to tear.

Holka, 33, had phoned Miss Harland, his former girlfriend, dozens of times after their “rocky relationship” fell apart.

The father of three pestered her repeatedly before trying to clamber into her house through the upper window.

Prosecutor Darren Almeida said when she saw Holka stuck in the curtains, she asked: “What are you doing?”

He replied: “Can’t you help me?”

Mr Almeida told the court: “Miss Harland had to assist him because she didn’t want them to rip.”

The pair then argued and Holka took the dog from the property in Birchington, Kent.

He returned the pet when she called the police.

Holka stalked Miss Harland for two weeks and put his victim in “fear, anguish and distress” and made her feel “like a prisoner in her own home”, it was said.

He was arrested and bailed but flouted the conditions by targeting Ms Harland five more times, bombarding her with phone calls and following her at a supermarket.

Holka, of Birchington — who had 36 convictions from 22 previous offences — was given a 12-month jail sentence, suspended for two years, after pleading guilty to stalking involving serious alarm.

Judge Simon Taylor KC, at Canterbury crown court, told him: “You set about on a destructive course of conduct against your former partner.”

He must also complete a drug rehabilitation course and a 12-month probation course.