Dalina Pop, 34, leaving Southwark Crown Court, where she admitted criminal damage
A woman spray painted a string of racist and offensive insults on her landlord’s BMW causing £17,000 worth of damage when he tried to evict her.
Dalina Pop, 34, had been renting a flat from Ovace Miller on Westbourne Terrace in Paddington, London, when she was asked to leave the property on August 5, 2015.
Mr Miller left his white BMW parked outside on the street and discovered the following morning it had been daubed in red and black paint with the words ‘f**k you’, ‘liar’, ‘rapist’ and ‘no means no’.
A court heard Mr Miller had to pay £17,000 to get the BMW 6 series cleaned over three days.
Pop voluntarily presented herself at Charing Cross Police Station four days later before eventually admitting a single charge of criminal damage.
She was cleared of the more serious charge of racially aggravated criminal damage after a short trial at Southwark Crown Court.
Jurors were shown photos of Mr Miller’s BMW showing the word ‘Arab’ daubed on the roof above the driver’s seat.
Neil King, prosecuting, claimed Pop ‘displayed hostility towards him’ because of his Persian origin which was ‘part of the reason for the insult’.
‘It is because he is from the Middle-East that this insult is sprayed on the roof of this car,’ he added.
‘It is written in the same ink, on the same car, at the same time.’
But giving evidence Pop denied she knew the difference ‘between Persian and Arab’.
The theatre student broke down as she accused her victim of being ‘very set on destroying my career’.
She told jurors she painted the words ‘rapist’ and ‘liar’ because Mr Miller ‘invaded my privacy, my private space and my body’.
Jurors were shown photos of Mr Miller’s BMW showing the word ‘Arab’ among other insults daubed on the roof above the driver’s seat
No further action was taken against Mr Miller after he was interviewed by police in relation to Pop’s claims.
She said: ‘If I wanted to hurt him I would have talked to his girlfriend and told her he brings about ten different women to his apartment each month.
‘That probably would have hurt him, but writing ‘Arab’ on his car?’
She claimed to have received an email ‘three months ago’ in which ‘he made clear that he was going to destroy my future’.
Jurors heard her alleged victim threatened to write a letter to the United States government asking that Pop be banned from entering the country after her conviction.
Pop claimed she would not have been tall enough to etch the racial insult herself in such neat writing, compared to her other slurs, and suggested Mr Miller may have added it himself later.
‘He was very set on destroying my future and just criminal damage probably wouldn’t be enough,’ she added.
Pop, from West Hampstead in northwest London, admitted criminal damage. She denied and was cleared of the more serious charge of racially aggravated criminal damage
Mr Miller left his white BMW parked outside on the street and discovered it had been daubed in red and black paint with the words ‘f**k you’, ‘liar’, ‘rapist’ and ‘no means no’
Pop, from West Hampstead in northwest London, admitted criminal damage.
She denied and was cleared of the more serious charge of racially aggravated criminal damage.
Judge Stephen Robbins agreed to adjourn sentencing for five weeks until 20 November to allow her to return to her studies at a university in New York.
Pop confirmed she would be on Thanksgiving holidays from her studies and could return for that date.
Judge Robbins told her: ‘Come back for sentence on 20 November at 10am.
‘If there is going to be any difficulty about getting back in time, you must make sure everyone knows.’
The prosecution will provide the court with a compensation schedule detailing the £17,000 worth of damage to the BMW.