In 2015, family lawyer Patrick Gardner met 38-year-old mum, Kobi Langshaw – a chance encounter that ultimately triggered eight years of relentless stalking.
Langshaw was there to discuss her marriage breakdown, but left the meeting totally infatuated with Gardner. Her infatuation quickly turned into a dangerous obsession culminating in behaviours similar to those perpetrated by the character Martha, from the Netflix hit Baby Reindeer. In the Grammy Award winning series, Martha becomes obsessed with comedian Richard Gadd, and goes on to stalk him for years.
Like Martha, Langshaw has a legal background, with the well-educated law clerk appearing to have connections to a range of high profile firms and lawyers.
Watch: The trailer for Baby Reindeer. Article continues after the video.
About a year after their first meeting, Gardner took out a restraining order against Langshaw, after a series of "creepy" events.
The restraining order banned Langshaw from going within two kilometres of Gardner's home or workplace, or that of his best friend, Aaron Herbert, who was also targeted. She was ordered never to contact either man again.
On one occasion, Langshaw rang the president of Gardner's football club, pretending to be an AFL official. She told them Gardner was receiving an award, which wasn't true, before turning up to the awards night and refusing to leave.
She was also seen taking her kids to play near Gardner's house in Perth, and having "outbursts" around the CBD Family Court Building where both men worked.
In their victim impact statements to the court, both Gardner and Herbert described feeling 'utterly helpless' during their ordeal, with Gardner adding he had struggled to be taken seriously when he first raised the issue of her stalking.
Just the beginning.
The rare lifetime ban didn't stop Langshaw, who relocated to the suburb where the men lived, and was often seen loitering around their homes, workplaces and local cafes.
Langshaw also took to TikTok, creating an account where she posed as a lovestruck university student, using filters to change her appearance.
She used the account to send cryptic messages – a tactic common among perpetrators who stalk for prolonged periods of time and are able to develop a shared language between themselves and their victims.
Her bio was also a pointed message to Gardner and Herbert.
"Be like a butterfly — always beautiful but hard to catch," it read.
According to the Daily Mail, Langshaw posted several times a day, including one video where she stared directly into the camera miming the words: "Reaching for the phone, I can't fight it any more and I wonder if I've ever crossed your mind."
Langshaw included the hashtag #nocontact and a telephone emoji, an apparent reference to the restraining orders against her.
In May, Langshaw returned to court to face multiple charges relating to her ongoing stalking and breaching offences.
During that court appearance, Magistrate Belinda Coleman described Langshaw as a "highly intelligent woman".
"She is skilled at lying to take advantage of others. 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 her 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."
The court heard Gardner told police he saw Langshaw walk past every morning as he drove to work, and often tailgated him in her car.
On another occasion she was seen sitting on a bicycle near Gardner. When she realised she'd been spotted, she let out a "hysterical laugh", the court heard.
Coleman said Langshaw was "terrifyingly aware of Mr Gardner's routine and movements".
"There are no such things as chance meetings when it comes to Ms Langshaw — she has an uncanny ability to find out information and be in places at opportune times."
Despite being convicted of multiple stalking offences and breaches, Langshaw's continued to pursue both men.
Alongside another TikTok video, posted just weeks before she was due in court for sentencing, she wrote: "You will never understand how much I suffered before us", before disturbingly adding, "Season two coming soon."
Returning to court on October 10, Langshaw was sentenced to five years in jail.
Magistrate Coleman said Langshaw was very dangerous, describing her stalking campaign as "deliberate, unrelenting and carefully calculated". Langshaw had a high risk of reoffending, Coleman said.
"It is clear she was and still is completely infatuated with Mr Gardner," she said.
"My review of the cases has confirmed to me that your behaviour was extremely serious and falls at the highest end of the scale for offences of this type."
Langshaw was found guilty of 22 counts of breaching a restraining order, two counts of pursuing another with intent to intimidate under circumstances of aggravation and one count of stalking with intent to intimidate.
Langshaw has a previous conviction of stalking, relating to another man she met through work.
In that case, she invented a relationship with the man's wife, bombarding him with fictional sexual details for more several weeks.
Feature image: Facebook.