Derbyshire man drove ex-partner from her home town with relentless harassment

Brett Morris bombarded the woman with more than 50 messages, within 24-hours, in February, despite of a restraining order forbidding him from calling her that was imposed the month before.

But when he was arrested he denied committing any offences and claimed “she knew a lot of people called Brett” and was lying to get him into trouble.

Morris, aged 39, of Top Road, Calow, Chesterfield, denied breaching the restraining order but was convicted after a trial at Chesterfield Magistrates Court, on June 7.

The court heard he has 20 previous convictions for 43 offences, including battery, harassment and breaching restraining orders against a different ex-partner, for which he was jailed twice in 2021 and 2022.

In May last year Morris was convicted of a serious assault against his current victim and sentenced to a 16 week prison sentence.

A two-year restraining order was imposed but Morris breached it within three days of being released from custody in July.

Morris was in custody in January when he sent handwritten letters to the woman from prison - some were intercepted by prison staff – which led to an eight-month prison sentence suspended for 18 months.

Ellesse Taylor, mitigating, said some of the offending was triggered by alcohol abuse after he was tea-total for two to three years, she said.

He has served the equivalent of a seven-month prison sentence while on remand, she said, and urged the judge to keep the sentence as low as possible.

On Tuesday, Judge Julie Warburton told him: “You immediately started hounding her again. You didn’t stop when she threatened to report you.

"You continued along your own selfish path without any thought of the impact this was having on her.

“She has had to give up her life in Matlock where she was born and which she loves. She has described the impact this has had on her and her children in a statement.

“I am told you have finally accepted your behaviour. The reality is, whatever your struggles, you refused to take “no” for an answer.”

Morris received an 18-month prison sentence.