A former international university student who had delusions a woman was in love with him, has been jailed for stalking.
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Chinese student Kun Liu, 23, was studying at Federation University in February 2017 when he started to stalk another student he had met in China four years ago.
Liu used a messaging service to continually tell the victim he loved her.
On March 17, Liu entered a university residential building via an open kitchen window. The victim found him in her bedroom where he tried to kiss her.
During a police interview, Liu said the victim was his girlfriend. He said the pair did not have contact in China, but when they moved to Australia she hinted he look after her.
Liu pleaded guilty at the County Court at Ballarat on Wednesday to stalking and aggravated burglary.
The court was told Liu had been in custody for 271 days – almost nine months – and he had only been visited once.
Judge Michael McInerney said a medical report stated Liu experienced erotomania disorder, a delusional disorder where someone believes another person is in love with him or her.
He said the victim was scared, believing Liu was crazy and he would have hurt her or kill her. She suggested she felt safe when he was in prison.
Judge McInerney said Liu’s stalking was low-level behaviour and his guilty plea to aggravated burglary was valuable.
He sentenced Liu to 271 days in prison, which has already been served. Liu will be released into a detention centre because he has no visa, the court was told.
If he did not plead guilty, he would have been sentenced to one-and-a-half years’ prison.