A COUNCILLOR who impersonated a vulnerable woman’s stalker while pretending to help her has had his jail sentence doubled by the Court of Appeal.

Dipu Ahad, who served on Newcastle City Council until last year, offered to help his victim after her social media accounts were accessed by her ex-partner, who also set up fake accounts in her name, in mid-2018.

But, from January 2019, Ahad began impersonating the woman’s stalker and “escalated the campaign of harassment” while complaining to police that he was “absolutely outraged” by what was happening.

The 41-year-old created various email accounts in the woman’s name, called her parents pretending to be from the police, and even claimed that he had received threatening phone calls himself.

Ahad, formerly of Ilfracombe Avenue, Newcastle, then emailed senior police officers, saying the “relentless onslaught of campaigns on a vulnerable woman is absolutely outrageous and unacceptable”, the Court of Appeal heard.

He also sprayed her car with chalk paint in the early hours of the morning before telling her that he would have to patrol outside her house at night and she would need to install CCTV cameras.

Ahad pleaded guilty just days before he was due to face trial at Newcastle Crown Court, but later told people in the local community that it was “not a plea that he stood behind” and was made “tactically”, the court heard.

In April, he was jailed for 14 months, with Judge Amanda Rippon telling him that he had abused his position of trust to enjoy “the praise that comes with being the hero of the hour”.

At a hearing yesterday, the Attorney General’s Office challenged the 14-month sentence as being unduly lenient, with Jonathan Polnay telling the court that Ahad had used his good character to “facilitate” the offending.

Mr Polnay also said Ahad was “aware that this was already a very vulnerable victim who was suffering from severe distress” and he had “deliberately implicated” her ex-partner.

Doubling Ahad’s sentence to 28 months’ imprisonment, Lady Justice Macur said Judge Rippon “failed to have regard to the fact that the overwhelming evidence of good character had led the offender to be able to commit the offences”.

The judge, sitting with Mr Justice Morris and Mrs Justice Cutts, added: “The overall sentence should have been one of 28 months – that is double the sentence that was imposed and therefore was inevitably unduly lenient.”

After the hearing, Solicitor General Lucy Frazer QC said: “Dipu Ahad was trusted as a community figure and friend to the victim.

“Instead of supporting her, he carried out a campaign of harassment while she was vulnerable.

“I welcome the increase to his sentence today and I hope that this brings the victim some comfort.”

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