Doctor in Brighton "spun web of lies" to sabotage flatmate, a court has heard
He denies a charge of perverting the course of justice.
A doctor who had feelings for his flatmate while living in Brighton created fake screenshots and sent him threatening messages in an attempt to sabotage his relationships, a court has heard.
General practitioner Javed Saumtally went so far as to send himself abusive texts and invented a police officer as part of his web of deception, prosecutors say.
He allegedly told the elaborate lies – complete with false reports to police – while living in Brighton, East Sussex, in 2018.
The 28-year-old, who now lives in Suffolk, appeared at Hove Crown Court for trial on Wednesday afternoon after denying a charge of perverting the course of justice.
Opening the case, prosecutor Jonathan Atkinson said the various lies were part of a “concerted ploy by Mr Saumtally to deliberately undermine the relationships of his flatmate … to (make him) feel under threat and harassed as a result, all the while pretending to act as an understanding friend and companion.”
In his actions, Saumtally was “motivated by his own feelings” for his male flatmate, the prosecutor added.
Mr Atkinson said the defendant set about “sending abusive and derogatory messages from unknown numbers” to his flatmate but also to himself, “no doubt to make it look like he was also a victim and to deflect attention away from him”.
He made use of fake messaging applications and websites in order to furnish his deception, the court heard.
One such fake message, the court heard, pretended to be to received by Saumtally from a man his flatmate knew and said: “…I am going to ruin his life”.
When a man his flatmate had been seeing returned from a trip to Portugal, he was met with screenshots of WhatsApp messages he had supposedly sent, suggesting he had been seeing other people on the trip.
These messages, the prosecution say, were “faked”.
The defendant denies the charge.
The trial, which is expected to last about a week, continues.