A man who followed a woman to a supermarket and then to her home has been convicted of stalking.

Hamed Kardani, 29, followed a woman in his car from Swanwick to the Marks and Spencer store in Hedge End.

The woman, aged in her 30s, noticed the Mini continuing behind her on her journey to the supermarket last June.

Kardani, who was not known to the woman, parked directly in front of her vehicle in the car park and made eye contact with her, but did not leave his car as the woman went shopping.

She felt uneasy due to his behaviour, and when she returned to her vehicle, he switched on his engine and followed her again.

The woman managed to lose him at a roundabout, but Kardani pulled up alongside her once again at a set of traffic lights in Swanwick before driving off.

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The woman soon returned home and saw the Mini pull into her road and slowly drive past her home address, with Kardani looking towards the woman’s driveway.

This encounter led her to report the incident to the police.

At Southampton Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, Kardani was found guilty of stalking.

PC Matt Jones said: "Kardani demonstrated a pattern of concerning behaviours in which he continually followed this woman in her car.

"He pulled up next to her in a car park and waited for her for 20 minutes whilst she shopped.

"The woman in this case quickly picked up on his strange actions and became distressed when Kardani continued to follow her, including turning up outside her home address.

"The fact that the victim in this case had to change her routine and take evasive action to try and get away from Kardani demonstrates just how unacceptable his behaviour was.

"Kardani tried to pass off his encounters with the victim as a coincidence, something which the courts sternly told him was ‘nonsense’ in light of the evidence against him.

"No one should be made to feel the way that the victim was made to feel in this case, and I want our communities to know that we will take robust action against anyone who targets people in this manner.

"We want people to have confidence to report this type of concerning behaviour to us, so if you have been affected please contact police."

Kardani, of Coleridge Drive in Whiteley, will appear before the same court on May 23 to be sentenced.