Chester Crown Court convicted Asad Hussain, 36, of stalking on Thursday after he created a fake Tinder account in his former partner’s name and invited men to her Greater Manchester home with messages describing violent sexual assaults. At least 18 men arrived at the address, with several forcing entry or attempting to break in under the belief they were fulfilling invitations sent from the fraudulent profile.

Prosecutors told the court Hussain used the alias “Mick Renney” to contact the woman beginning in April 2024, a relationship that turned possessive and escalated to repeated doorbell harassment and phone checks. After the relationship ended, he contacted her friends and daughter with false allegations of infidelity and persisted in efforts to reestablish contact.

Police linked “Mick Renney” to Hussain through a vehicle registered to his business and found he had altered his car registration and used multiple phones to conceal his identity. Officers said Hussain repeatedly drove to a lay-by near the victim’s home whenever the fake profile was active and denied any connection to her or the account during the trial.

Cheshire Police described the case as one of the most disturbing it has handled, with officers stating Hussain sought to inflict “sheer horror” on his victim without accepting responsibility or acknowledging the risk he created. Hussain is due to be sentenced in June.