A traffic warden who followed a travel influencer to Bali with a rope in his suitcase after threatening to kidnap and rape her has been detained at a mental health hospital. 

Rob Keating, 40, bombarded Alexandra Saper, 34, with hundreds of emails and 30 videos, some of which were sexual in nature and aggressive, before travelling to Bali where she lived. 

The emails and videos included threats to kidnap and rape her. One included a photo of a body in a suitcase alongside videos of him threatening to do the same to her.

He travelled to Bali - where Ms Saper lived - in January 2023 booking a one-way ticket after warning her to 'get kidnap insurance'.

He then visited bars and restaurants just metres from her home and continued to message her whilst she was in Bali, telling her 'you're never getting rid of me'.

Keating was then arrested in March 2023 upon his return at Gatwick airport. 

In his suitcase was found a black rope and a cut tie.

Whilst under investigation he made further posts about her and posted a screenshot with flights to Bali from London with the caption 'Round Two'.

Ms Saper - a former lawyer who now makes money from her Instagram page 'The Wayfaress' which has more than 160,000 followers - said she fled the country because she was so 'terrified' he would find her. 

Keating was convicted of two counts of stalking following a trial last year at Portsmouth Crown Court. He was sentenced to a hospital order and an indefinite restraining order at the same court on Monday. 

The court heard he was thought to suffer from a 'delusional disorder' because he has 'grandiose delusions' that he could have 'changed the world' by kidnapping Ms Saper.

Dr Daron Aslanyan, a forensic psychiatrist, said that Keating had suffered from the disorder for five or six years, since 2019.

Dr Aslanyan said: 'This mainly involves believing he is able to change the world. 'Bringing big benefits to the government and his belief in the changing machine.'

He said that Keating did not acknowledge the harm he had done and still said he had been 'framed' by the police.

He added: 'Because he was isolated he was looking for someone who would fit his world view with this person being able to change the world through social media or otherwise.'

He said that Keating had 'no insight into him having a mental disorder' and had 'not demonstrated any empathy to the victim'.

Closing the case, Prosecutor Alexandra Bull described Keating as 'indulging' in a 'wilful self delusion' involving a 'one dimensional' version of the influencer as he 'moved from follower to stalker'.

Mitigating, Francesca Hallett today said that Keating did not oppose a hospital order.

Ms Hallett said that he had no previous convictions and that this was 'out of character for him'.

Judge Michael Bowes KC told the court the hospital order with a restriction order was required for Keating to receive treatment for his mental health disorder which he might refuse in a prison environment because of his failure to accept his diagnosis.

He said: 'My over-riding concern is to protect the general public, and Alexandra Saper in particular, from any future harm.'

The court heard Keating first started following Ms Saper in June 2022 before sending her a direct message.

Ms Bull said Ms Saper found the message from Keating as 'weird and creepy, and didn't make sense'.

Ms Bull said that after blocking Keating, he sent her 'incessant and constant' emails and videos to her business account which became 'increasingly intense' as well as 'sexual in nature, aggressive and offensive', and he was 'speaking to her as if she was in a relationship with him'.

The prosecutor added: 'She read an email that he said he was in love with her, wanted to be with her and would do whatever was necessary, and 'if that involves kidnapping, so be it'.'

Ms Bull said that Keating then told Ms Saper he would give up his job to travel to Bali to be with her and at the end of January 2023 he had bought a plane ticket. 

She said the defendant had sent Ms Saper messages with one saying 'I just want to punish you when I see you', another asking to have dinner with her and saying: 'You are never going to get rid of me.'

Ms Bull said he also sent an image of a person in a suitcase, causing Ms Saper to be 'very scared' and forcing her to leave her home to live with friends.

She added: 'She was terrified to have someone watching her every move.'

Despite being arrested on his return to Gatwick airport in March 2023, Keating, formerly of Havant, Hampshire, contacted Ms Saper again more than a year later and sent her screenshots of flights to Bali with the caption 'Round Two', leading to him being arrested again in November 2024.

In her victim impact statement read to the court, Ms Saper said she was forced to flee first her home and then Bali as she started to suffer panic attacks.

She said: 'My mental health crumbled, I disappeared from social media, my business came to a screeching halt and I was completely isolated from friends, I could barely eat or sleep.'

Ms Saper said that she had started her social media account to encourage women to travel independently but added: 'I lived and worked according to these beliefs until they were shattered by a stranger who found me online.'

She added: 'I hoped ignoring him would make him stop, instead he became more obsessed, more sexually explicit and more aggressive, then came the threats, he said he would do whatever it took to be with me, including kidnapping.'

Rachel Robertson, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: 'Rob Keating took extreme lengths to try to materialise his delusions of a relationship between himself and Ms Saper.

'The prosecution built a strong case utilising video messages sent by Keating to show a deeply concerning pattern of behaviour, ultimately leading to his conviction.

'This type of offence is unacceptable and is deeply distressing and frightening for victims, forcing them to change their routines. In this case, Ms Saper fled her home in fear of her life.

'It is vital that women and girls feel safe when going about their lives. The Crown Prosecution Service is determined to deliver justice for victims of stalking and harassment.'

Giving evidence at court previously, Ms Saper said she 'didn't think' he would actually make the trip to the tropical island.

Having previously flown to Britain to give a statement to the court as part of Keating's sentencing, she said the ordeal had caused her a lot of distress.

She said: 'This was the first time in my life I was scared all the time. I would wake up scared, I would fall asleep scared.

'I felt so disempowered, it just rattled my whole sense of identity.

Ms Saper also criticised the way her case had been handled by the police.

She told the court: 'For months, I pleaded with the UK and US embassies, countless police officers across three countries, politicians, public figures, and the press to help me.

'I just wanted my life back, but he was still in my neighbourhood, roaming freely, searching for me.

'It was only after 2.5 years of this hell, when he posted flights to return to Bali, photos and videos of me, and the words 'Round 2' that he was finally charged with stalking.'