In a chilling instance of life imitating art, a Perth woman has been convicted of stalking in scenes eerily reminiscent of this year’s hit Netflix series, Baby Reindeer.
Kobi Langshaw was found guilty in May of more than two dozen counts of stalking and breaches of a violence restraining order. The mother of two was sentenced to five years in jail.
Like Baby Reindeer’s lawyer antagonist ‘Martha’, Langshaw, 38, became obsessed with two men for eight years.
A Perth court heard that Langshaw, a law clerk, carried out a “deliberate, unrelenting, and carefully calculated” campaign against family lawyer Patrick Gardner and his friend, Aaron Herbert.
Langshaw became “completely infatuated” with Patrick in 2015, soon after meeting him for advice about her marriage breakdown. By 2016, Patrick had taken out a restraining order against her following a series of disturbing behaviours.
The court also heard that Langshaw started targeting Aaron during this time. Magistrate Belinda Coleman said Langshaw harboured a hatred that “bordered on the pathological”.
Langshaw’s obsession with Patrick and Adam went so far that she moved to the suburb where they lived and loitered around their houses and workplaces.
She even turned up at Patrick’s AFL club and secured a job as a legal clerk near his workplace.
Heartbreakingly, Patrick and Aaron said they both felt “utterly hopeless” during the ordeal.
Magistrate Coleman decreed that Langshaw was “very dangerous”.
“It is clear that she uses charm to manipulate others for personal gain,” she said.
“It is clear that she was and still is completely infatuated with Mr Gardner … on the first occasion he gave evidence, she stopped taking notes and stared at him the entire time. He did [his] best to avoid her unrelenting gaze.
“She even took her hair out of her ponytail and fluffed it around her shoulders in an attempt to draw his attention – it was very unnerving.”
Magistrate Coleman also said Langshaw was “terrifyingly aware of Mr. Gardner’s routine and movements”.
Up until the day before her October 10 sentencing, Langshaw also led a bizarre double life on TikTok.
Posing as a young university student, she posted revealing videos and messages, referencing the restraining orders against her.
“Reaching for the phone, I can’t fight it anymore and I wonder if I’ve ever crossed your mind,” Langshaw mimed in one of her videos.
In another post, she said, “You’re the wrong person with who I lived my right love story, and I am the right person who entered your life by mistake. You will never understand how much I suffered before us.
“Season two coming soon.”
Langshaw was banned from going within 2km of her victims.
During Langshaw’s latest hearing, the court heard she had already spent months behind bars for other stalking convictions.
This included a man she met through work. She would bombard him with fictional sexual details about his wife.
