A man who has been convicted of stalking British singer Harry Styles has been cleared of new charges of harassment. The new charges were brought upon after the stalker had used social media, such activity had been banned following a previous trial.

28-year-old Pablo Tarazaga-Orero was first found guilty of stalking the singer after a trial in October 2019. The convicted Tarazaga-Orero was sentenced to 12-month community service and mandatory rehab. Styles was also granted a restraining order against the stalker which did not allow Tarazaga-Orero to be within 250 metres of him, this included his gigs and public appearances. The conviction also included rules which prohibited him from sending any messages or communication to the singer through social media.

The former One Direction singer has had issues with Pablo Tarazaga-Orero since the singer met him in 2019 whilst Tarazaga-Orero was living on the streets. He was sleeping at the bus stop situated outside of Styles’ house in Hampstead, Styles had given him some money and had bought him a meal at a vegan café. The singer then proceeded to find notes and money in his letterbox from the convicted.

Styles gave evidence in the 2019 trial concerning how he met the accused. “I thought it was sad that someone so young was sleeping rough at a bus stop when it was cold” He then continued to describe to the court how the behaviour escalated and how it left him feeling unsafe. “I never really encountered this kind of behaviour before. I’ve employed a night guard. I continue to lock my bedroom door at night” singer explained.

The recent charges in which the accused was cleared of came into focus in December 2020, the police were made aware of banned social media activity in which the accused had posted pictures and music videos via Facebook. On Friday he was taken to Highbury Corner Magistrates’ Court in London, the day of his hearing, Tarazaga-Orero was cleared of the new charges of harassment. He had planned not to plead guilty to the new charge and was informed by his lawyer that he would not be convicted this time. Fortunately for Styles, as he did not appear for his hearing, the restraining order will not be lifted.

Shaan Sethi, the case’s prosecutor, has stated the details surrounding the harassment accusation. “He continued to post on a Facebook account – and another Facebook account linked to him – images and media relating to Harry Styles, The defendant alleges he was having legitimate and consensual conversations with Mr Styles in the past month, and that gave him in his belief a reasonable excuse to breach the restraining order.”

Styles rose to fan as one-fourth of one of the best-selling boy bands, the 27-year-old joined One Direction after his appearance on the talent show The X Factor. The group dominated the charts and were received with huge commercial success, the group released five studio albums throughout their six years together.

Since 2016, members have been pursuing their solo careers, this hiatus gave Styles the room to become the modern pop star in which he has become. The singer has released two solo studio albums, his second studio album ‘Fine Line’ was released on 13th December 2019. The album sired the popular single ‘Watermelon Sugar’ released on 15th May 2020 which peaked at number four within the UK charts.

Styles has proved himself to be a double threat since his acting debut in the 2017 blockbuster ‘Dunkirk’, the singer has clearly caught the acting bug as more film appearances appear to be in the works.