Mother 'was bludgeoned with a crowbar and left for dead by her infatuated stalker

• Fatmir Stafasani allegedly abseiled into Blerta Sulaj's bathroom through skylight
• Court heard he then told her 'this is your last day' and smashed her in the head 
• Black webbing straps, used by climbers were found by police at the crime
• Wheelchair-bound Stafasani denies attempted murder and aggravated burglary 

A mother was bludgeoned with a crowbar and left for dead by her ‘infatuated’ stalker after he abseiled into her bathroom through a skylight, a court heard.

Fatmir Stafasani, 49, allegedly warned Blerta Sulaj: ‘This is your last day’ before smashing her over the head in her own top-floor apartment in Fulham until she lost consciousness.

Ms Sulaj identified Stafasani as her attacker and claimed to have known him for a number of years from her homeland.

‘She said that she believed he was obsessed with her, infatuated, and that he had threatened her previously that if she would not become his wife he would degrade her and claim, in fact, that they were married,’ said prosecutor Michelle Fawcett.

Ms Sulaj (left) identified Stafasani (right) as her attacker and claimed to have known him for a number of years from her homeland

‘He was that infatuated with her.’

Examinations of the crime scene and surrounding area on March 20 this year uncovered black webbing straps, typically used by climbers, secured by a metal loop and spring-loaded gate closure to pipework on the roof.

The webbing, which bore Stafasani’s DNA as did a discarded orange juice bottle lying nearby, hung down from a damaged skylight towards the bathroom floor, Southwark Crown Court heard.

Wheelchair-bound Stafasani, who has refused to take part in the trial and has subsequently found to be mute by malice, denies attempted murder and aggravated burglary.

But Ms Fawcett said: ‘Why else would he have broken into the flat if it was not to seriously injure or harm Blerta Sulaj?

‘Because nothing was stolen.

‘No property was taken - her mobile phone and handbag were still on the bed when police arrived.

‘The meticulous planning that must have gone into this offence; climbing ladders, gaining access through a skylight using webbing, lying in wait for over an hour, being armed with weapons.

‘All this demonstrates that the sole reason for the defendant being there was to attack Ms Sulaj.

‘And attack her he did - viciously, callously, repeatedly - after telling her he was going to kill her.

“This is your last day’.

‘He then smashed her over the head with a metal bar.’

Jurors heard Ms Sulaj told officers she arrived home from shopping and let herself into the locked flat with a key shortly after lunchtime on March 20.

She then made her way to the bedroom to remove her shoes when she felt a blow to the back of her head.

Officers heard the woman fingered Stafasani for the assault, claiming he had emerged from behind a wall in the bathroom.

When she screamed and shouted for help, her attacker closed the door and resumed his onslaught.

Ms Sulaj was eventually left with serious head injuries including a fractured skull, severe bruising to her back and bottom, and fractured hands.

She spent four weeks in hospital.

‘Is there any doubt in your mind at all who attacked you?’ Ms Fawcett asked her.

‘It is him and only him,’ Ms Sulaj said after naming Stafasani from behind a screen.

The court heard the first two met while she was working as a nurse in Albania in 2012 before settling in the UK last year.

Ms Sulaj confirmed she considered them to be ‘friends’.

‘I would talk to him as friend to friend,’ she added.

‘Not anything else, not anything more.

‘I don’t know how his imagination works.’

The mother initially met Stafasani in Thornton Heath but she soon ‘realised what his true intentions were’.

‘His real intention was to belong to him as if I was an item,’ the court was told.

‘He found the address, he was on the search.

‘Wherever I put my step his shadow was behind.’

She described pleading with him to leave her alone and told jurors she was ‘curious’ to find out how he tracked her down to her new home in Fulham.

Her son arrived home while police were still examining the apartment and showed them an image of Stafasani when asked who may have been behind the attack.

He claimed to have seen him sitting in a blue Mercedes around 20 times during the past month.

DNA tests on the orange juice bottle and strapping as well as an identity parade with Ms Sulaj all pointed to Stafasani and he was arrested on 11 May.

Stafasani, of Brunswick Court, Bermondsey, southeast London, denies attempted murder and aggravated burglary.