Stalker from South Shields jailed after breaching a restraining order by delivering paracetamol to his ex

Lee Theaker was banned from "molesting, pestering or harassing" the woman under the terms of a restraining order imposed during their relationship.

Newcastle Crown Court heard the former couple split in January this year.

In a social media post on Feburuary 1, the woman said she needed the painkiller and when she woke up the next day 50-year-old Theaker had delivered some through her door.

Prosecutor Michael Bunch told the court: "She posted on Facebook she was in need of paracetamol. She woke the next morning and found two boxes had been pushed through her letterbox, together with a note from the defendant, saying he was responsible for it."

Theaker claimed he had paid £30 to drop the medication off in a taxi from his home in South Shields to hers in Gateshead.

The court heard two days later Theaker turned up at the woman's house asking for a suitcase he had left there and she agreed to leave it outside for him.

One day after that, Theaker turned up at the house and shouted "I just want to tell you I love you" from outside, which left the frightened victim "physically shaking" inside.

Mr Bunch said over the next few days the woman received multiple missed calls from Theaker.

She said in a statement she was worried about being confronted in public by Theaker and added: "I am scared of what he's going to do next."

Theaker, now of Arthur Street, Chilton, who has convictions for 47 previous offences, admitted stalking and breach of a restraining order.

Mr Recorder Jeremy Hill-Baker sentenced Theaker, who was on a suspended sentence order when he committed the offences, to nine months behind bars with a lifelong restraining order that bans contact with the victim.

The judge told him: "She is plainly concerned about what you are going to do next."

Tom Mitchell, defending, said Theaker had not been at home when the police visited twice about his contact with the victim.

Mr Mitchell said: "Had he known how badly she was taking things at that point and had he heard it from the police I suspect he would not have called her afterwards on the telephone and would have known how serious the position was he was in."

Mr Mitchell said Theaker has now accepted the "relatively long" relationship is at an end.