Obsessed admirer, 33, who bombarded doctor’s receptionist, 19, with text messages every two seconds and locked her in car for 100-mile road trip while he begged her to marry him is jailed for three years
- Tosif Patel was arrested after he forced Miss Dolphin on a 100 mile road trip
- He bombarded Erin Dolphin, 19, with text messages every two seconds
An obsessed admirer who bombarded a doctor’s receptionist with text messages every two seconds and locked her in a car for an 100-mile road trip as he begged her to marry him has been jailed for three years.
Erin Dolphin, 19, had done nothing to suggest she wanted romance with former marketing boss Tosif Patel, 33, but he tried to woo her for almost a year after he met her through a friend.
During his campaign to seduce the victim, Patel who had previously caused a car crash which killed a 16-year-old girl he was on a first date with, showered Miss Dolphin with messages, gifts, and money.
When she rebuffed his advances, Patel, 33, created social media accounts calling her a ‘w***e’ and a ‘s**t’ and in one 20-minute period sent her 185 texts and a further 1,000 messages in just eight hours.
Patel, of Bolton, Greater Manchester, was eventually arrested after he forced Miss Dolphin on a 100 mile Transpennine road trip lasting more than five hours which he locked her in his vehicle and begged her to accept his marriage proposal.
Doctor’s receptionist Erin Dolphin, 19, was sent gifts, money and text messages every two seconds in a warped bid by obsessed Tosif Patel to win her affections
Tofin Patel, 33, was jailed for three years after admitting stalking and false imprisonment charges at Bolton Crown Court
He also tried to smear the victim as a junkie to her work colleagues – even turning up uninvited at the surgery where she worked to speak to her boss.
In a tearful statement Miss Dolphin, from Westhoughton, told police: ‘I lost my appetite and was unable to sleep due to what was going on. I was scared to go work and this behaviour affected my relationships and friendships with others.
‘Going home is now a misery. I can’t eat, sleep or anything, I don’t even want to go out and socialise anymore. He has made me feel like was a bad person.’
At Bolton Crown Court, Patel admitted stalking causing serious harm and distress and false imprisonment and was jailed for three years.
Earlier the court heard the offences occurred between July 2021 and June 2022, 18 months after Patel met Miss Dolphin through her ex-boyfriend.
Mr Patrick Williamson prosecuting said: ‘She and the defendant had never been in a relationship and nothing she said or did ever gave him the impression otherwise.
But he sent a considerable number of messages to Miss Dolphin. At first they seemed harmless but he then started to tell her he loved her, saw they had a future together and that he wanted to get to know her.
‘She was clear with him from the start that she did not want to be in a relationship with him but he sought to contact her by creating online social media accounts called ‘ErinDolpinw***e’ and ‘ErinDolphins**t.’
The court heard how Erin Dolphin, pictured, was clear from the start that she did not want a relationship with the defendant, but he continued to pursue her
The court heard how Patel bought her a new phone and accessed the billing and usage so he could monitor her interactions
‘She blocked him repeatedly but this did not deter the defendant who showered her with unwanted gifts and turning up at her home with food, alcohol and posting money through her front door.
‘He would also pay money into her account simply as a way of persuading her to talk to him and he also befriended her 15 year old bother. This soured her relationship with her brother to the extent she even blocked him on social media.
‘Being young Miss Dolphin accepted the money not fully realising the signal this might send. But he then made the distasteful comment to her: ‘The only way you can repay all this is to sleep with me.’
He would make threats to approach her employer and make accusations about her. She was very scared he would carry them out. He would also follow her to friends’ addresses and then bang on the doors.
‘When Miss Dolphin broke her phone, the defendant replaced it with the latest model with Miss Dolphin herself saying: ‘Me being a young girl and silly, I took the phone.’
The sinister aspect to this was the defendant was able to access the billing and usage of the phone to constantly monitor her interactions.
‘He also sent her messages on a daily basis, about 1,000 in one eight hour period alone. When she was actually speaking to police about him, Miss Dolphin received 185 message in one 20 minute period.
‘He engaged in rambling monologues fluctuating in emotions, some seeking forgiveness others being highly abusive. He sent her the draft of a letter he proposed to send to her employer reporting she used control substances.’
A court heard how Patel ‘made unwarranted demands for sexual favours interspersed with quite horrific threats’ towards Ms Dolphin (pictured)
One message Patel sent, said : ‘How come you don’t like being called things yet you behave like a whore slag bitch snake.’ Another read: ‘You f***ing slut.’
In April last year Miss Dolphin was leaving a lunch time work event in Manchester when Patel pulled up alongside her in her car.
Mr Williamson added: ‘She didn’t want to create a scene in front of her work colleagues so she got in and expected him to drive her home.
‘But she then started to see road signs for Leeds and when she asked to be taken home, he proceeded to drive around for the next five hours.
‘He told her she was ‘his girl’ that he wanted to marry her and have children with her. They drove to Bradford where they had a meal together although she only agreed to appease him.
‘On the way back on the motorway, a heated argument started between them, he told her to take her shoes off and give him her phone. he then stopped and told her to get out of the car. She started to walk down the carriageway before he pulled up again and told her to get back in.
‘He drove her to Chorley where he parked up and locked the car doors. She was crying and asked to be taken home but he started crying his eyes out saying: ‘Please be with me, I’m really sorry, I would never hurt you.’
She was in the defendant’s car for a considerable period of time against her will before he eventually dropped her off at home without her shoes or phone.’
Miss Dolphin failed to attend work the following day and confessed her ordeal when disciplined by her boss. However Patel would still loiter outside the surgery on various occasions forcing her to take a taxi instead of the bus to the office.
The 19-year-old had done nothing to suggest she wanted romance with the former marketing boss
In one incident she ran to her back office sobbing: ‘He’s here, he’s here’ whilst Patel spoke to colleagues saying he wanted to make a ‘complaint.’
Police were called after the surgery manager drove Miss Dolphin home to avoid her having any contact with her tormentor.
When interviewed Patel, falsely claimed he had been in intimate relationship with Miss Dolphin and had given money and food to her.
In 2009 Patel then 18 was jailed for 30 months for causing death by dangerous driving.
Schoolgirl Zainab Lala, 16, was flung from his BMW and killed when he crashed the vehicle whilst ‘showing off’ to her on the A675 between Belmont and Abbey Village, Lancashire.
At the time it emerged the pair had defied attempts to keep them apart due to their religion to go on a date in Blackpool.
In mitigation Mr Graham Rishton said: ‘Sadly he is a man who has been in decline for a number of years. He had a number of senior roles with him marketing as the head of marketing and his outlook did at one time look positive.
‘But he had a battle against cancer and after being made unemployed, he developed mental health issues. Against the background he became fixated on this young lady to the point of obsession.’
Patel was also banned from contacting Miss Dolphin under the terms of an indefinite restraining order.
Sentencing Judge Nicholas Clarke KC told him: ‘You pestered her over a considerable period of time with messages which became ever more intrusive. You also bombarded her with gifts in a clearly misplaced way to try and secure her affection.
‘She wanted nothing of it and whilst she did accept some of your generosity, you made unwarranted demands for sexual favours interspersed with quite horrific threats.
‘You followed her in a variety of ways, took over her contacts, and sent her messages which were extremely abusive. She was only 19 at the time of this offending yet you became fixated and obsessed with her.
‘She had to change her lifestyle and movements as a result of your unwanted attention.
‘She was made to feel like a bad person even though she had never treated you offensively at all.’
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