A notorious socialite once dubbed “London’s most dangerous woman” has been jailed for six years for secretly stalking a former diplomat while they were dating.
Farah Damji, 58, orchestrated an campaign of “abuse and lies” against Dr Nigel Gould-Davies in a bid to destroy his reputation, leaving him feeling suicidal.
Damji, a former New York art gallery owner and daughter of a millionaire property tycoon, sent false allegations to Dr Gould-Davies’ colleagues, employers, to politicians, and to the media.
When he realised the person stalking him was actually the woman he had been dating and reported Damji to police, she pursued him across Europe.
Dr Gould-Davies, the former British ambassador to Belarus, told Wood Green crown court that he believes Damji has continued her stalking campaign from prison, while using social media to “mock” him.
Judge Joanna Greenberg KC sentenced Damji to six years in prison, concluding she had conducted the “dreadful” stalking campaign simply because she could.
“One can only speculate as to the reasons for your behaviour, but what you did to Dr Gould-Davis was callously and deliberately to set about destroying his life and reputation for no better reason than you were able to do so by employing methods with which, from your history, you are experienced”, she said.
“Given your history of committing criminal offences of harassment and dishonesty, one conclusion about your behaviour is that it may be explained by nothing more nor less than wickedness and greed.”
Damji helped to set up campaigning magazine The View, featuring stories about women in the criminal justice system. The magazine and an accompanying podcast carried an interview with baby killer Constance Marten during her Old Bailey trial, as she complained about prison conditions.
Damji denied charges against her at trial, but was convicted by a jury of stalking involving serious alarm or distress, two counts of fraud, and theft.
The court heard she met Dr Gould-Davies on dating website Bumble in July 2023, just a few days after being set free from prison.
Dr Gould-Davies says Damji used an alias, Noor Higham, as they struck up a relationship, enjoying meals out, theatre trips, and spending time at his apartment.
Weeks into the relationship, Dr Gould-Davies began to receive “hateful” messages, colleagues and associates were contacted with false allegations, and lies were spread online using a Twitter account and a website.
Damji secretly tried to wreck Dr Gould-Davies’ application for a post at Harvard University, she falsely suggested to people that he is bipolar, and made bogus allegations including money laundering, violence against women, and breaches of the Official Secrets Act.
Damji used the name of Dr Gould-Davies’ ex-girlfriend as one of her aliases while conducting the stalking campaign, and stole from him a sensitive court document and his passport.
She also went on a spending spree using his bank card, making purchases at fashion outlet Paul Smith in a £13,621 fraud.
Dr Gould-Davies quit London to work in Berlin in a bid to get away from his mystery stalker, and separately he ended his relationship with Damji in February 2024 – still unaware that she was his tormentor.
But in Berlin, he investigated a website filled with slurs against his character which led him to Damji’s name and a picture of her.
“When Dr Gould-Davis finally realised that you were behind this hateful campaign against him and learned your true identity, he reported his discovery to police”, said the judge.
The court heard Damji then mounted an operation to track Dr Gould-Davies down in Berlin, attending his London flat with associates, visiting areas around his mother’s home in Spain, and contacting his brother in the USA.
She identified his hotel through clues from a TV interview he conducted with CNN from his room, and in March 2024 she sent him an email, pretending to come from his ex-girlfriend, saying she knew where he was staying.
Damji was arrested at Heathrow Airport as she made a bid to fly to Berlin, and has been in custody since.
Dr Gould-Davies told the court his mental health has nose-dived as a result of the stalking campaign, he remains “acutely fearful for his safety by the threats made against him and the systematic efforts you made to destroy his career and reputation by the dissemination of your lies”.
He says he continues to endure “online vilification, abuse and false allegations” to this day, and says the targeting continued even during Damji’s trial.
“Whilst Dr Gould-Davis was giving evidence in your trial, he was sent an email which had attached to it a copy of a voice note which you had dictated by phone from the prison”, said the judge.
“He described suffering great distress on hearing your voice. He broke down in tears twice whilst giving his evidence and his extreme distress was obvious to all.”
In a statement, Dr Gould-Davies told the court: “Although ‘stalking’ is the correct legal term, it does not do full justice to what I have experienced. ‘Stalking’ implies the hunting of prey.
“But for most of this period we were in a relationship and spending time together. Damji observed me at close quarters as I shared my most private fears and vulnerabilities with her. She then used these to refine her psychological torture of me. This was not stalking, but vivisection.”
Damji has a “truly appalling” criminal record, the judge said, including convictions for theft, deception, fraud, and perverting the course of justice.
The record saw her dubbed “London’s most dangerous woman” by Fleet Street more than a decade ago.
In 2016, she was convicted of stalking, in a campaign with “remarkable similarities” to her pursuit of Dr Gould-Davies.
She breached a subsequent restraining order, and had to be extradited from Ireland to serve a prison sentence.
Damji’s magazine, The View, was used to campaign about her treatment in prison while awaiting trial, including complaints that she had been restrained while receiving cancer treatment.
A representative for Damji contacted media organisations, seeking publicity, while asking for her real name not to be used.
An online crowdfunder was also launched, raising almost £3,000, with claims that she was facing “false” allegations, had been “held to ransom by crown court”, and £30,000 was needed to secure her release from prison.
Judge Greenberg said the jury convicted Damji on “overwhelming” evidence, and told her: “You are an intelligent woman with, it appears, some talent for writing, painting and engaging in campaigns designed to improve the lot of disadvantaged women.
“Instead of pursuing a law-abiding life developing and pursuing your talents, you have spent much of your life in the pursuit of crime and in harming others.
“You may not have used physical violence against Dr Gould-Davies, but you engaged in a campaign of what can only be described as psychological torture which was just as harmful.”
She added that Damji has shown “not an iota of remorse”.
Damji is set to serve half her six-year sentence and be on licence for the remaining three years.
The court will later consider the terms of a proposed restraining order.
