A man who behaved like a lovestruck teenager when he bombarded his ex-partner with phone calls and messages has walked free from court.

Graham Clayton sent the woman hundreds of messages and travelled down to London in a desperate attempt to rekindle their relationship, Teesside Crown Court heard.

The 54-year-old was unable to accept that the year-long relationship was over before repeatedly calling the woman and visiting her at her mother’s home in the capital.

Kelly Sherif, prosecuting, said Clayton 'incessantly' carried out a campaign of harassment from Christmas Eve 2021 until January 22, 2022, when the police were called to intervene.

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The court heard how the defendant would bombard his ex with phone calls and messages on a daily basis leaving her in a heightened state of anxiety.

She said: “The defendant continued messaging the complainant, she repeatedly asked him to stop but he didn’t.”

Miss Sherif said Clayton also pretended to have broken his arm in a car accident and told the victim’s family that he was dying of cancer – both desperate lies to elicit sympathy.

On the days before his arrest, the defendant called the woman 30 times from an unknown number and leaving a number of messages on her phone.

In a victim impact statement, the woman said his harassment had resulted in her being unable to work for more than a year and she was still feeling the effect of his behaviour suffering from flashbacks and anxiety.

Clayton, of Vulcan Way, Thornaby, pleaded guilty to harassment and possession of amphetamine which was recovered on the day of his arrest on January 21, last year.

Rod Hunt, mitigating, said his client was suffering from undiagnosed ADHD and had really struggled to handle the breakdown of the relationship.

Urging to judge to spare Clayton from a custodial sentence, Mr Hunt said: “The defendant behaved himself as soon as the police became involved.

“He has been on bail for a long time with strict conditions which he has kept to.”

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Judge Howard Crowson told Clayton he intended to send him to prison but had been persuaded to suspend his sentence.

He said: “It was a very close call for you and it was only your condition that saved you.”

Clayton was given a two-year sentence suspended for two years and ordered to take part in Building Better Relationships programme.