Stalkertastic

An obsessed lover built a hideout inside his ex-partner's house and used it to spy on her.

The 25-year-old man - who has name suppression - spent many hours in the hidden cavity, under a flight of stairs, and stocked it with clothes, bedding, food, candles, torches - and an arsenal of weapons.

He also cut holes in the plasterboard of the hideout and created trapdoors, giving him access to the whole house.

He was caught after he emerged from the hiding spot and lashed out with a spade when another man visited his former partner at the Lower Hutt home about 3am on April 1.

I cannot imagine what it would be like for a man to come bursting out of nowhere, wielding a weapon and speaking in Crazy.  I believe this may be the strangest booty call in the history of booty calls.

Not much is known about the man, except that his father surely contributed to his state.  In complete denial, his father calls it a "one-off" and suggests his son may have set this up over one night.   Trapdoors, bedding, weapons and all.  Somehow, in dear old Dad's mind, this means his son isn't as crazy as they believe.

But he's still crazy.  How do I know?  Sane people don't have a weapons cache in the room they use to spy on their ex.

Thank goodness this didn't end with someone getting killed.  They got to this one in time.