Woman acquitted of stalking TV explorer Wood but given restraining order

A woman has been acquitted of stalking explorer Levison Wood but has been handed a restraining order.

Ashwini Joshi was accused of stalking the former paratrooper between November 2022 and October 2025, including sending more than 600 emails, repeatedly calling and leaving him unwanted gifts.

This was alleged to have caused the TV presenter serious alarm and distress while impacting his day-to-day activities.

Addressing Joshi, 44, Judge Rajeev Shetty said: “You’ve been formally found not guilty of this charge.

“By consent I am going to impose what we call a post-acquittal restraining order.

“Now that restraining order is going to go on for five years.”

The judge added that he made the order as he deemed it “necessary”.

Conditions of the restraining order include not to contact Wood directly or indirectly and not to attend any event where he is named as attending.

Wood, 43, is a documentary-maker and author known for chronicling his epic hitchhiking journeys spanning several continents.

He also appeared in Channel 4 series Walking With Elephants, following the largest annual migration of Botswana’s elephants on a 650-mile journey.

The judge released Joshi, who is of no fixed address, from custody after the hearing.