A MAN breached a restraining order sought by his ex-partner by stopping to speak to her when he passed her at a bus stop.

Christopher Beckett believed the complainant had beckoned him over as he drove past in his van.

But after approaching her, she shouted at him and warned him to go away.

Beckett, 29, of Malpas Road, Northallerton, was made subject to the five-year long restraining order after being convicted of a drunken assault against his former partner for which he received a suspended jail sentence.

He was said to have attacked the complainant, striking her several times after grabbing her by the hair and had also bitten her.

Beckett admitted the breach on September 17 last year, some five weeks after it had been imposed, Teesside Crown Court was told.

Andrew Teate, mitigating, said Beckett had entered a guilty plea at the first opportunity when the matter was heard at magistrates court.

He had left the scene immediately after the woman told him to go.

Recorder Felicity Davies said Beckett needed to continue to abide by the order, which prevents him from having contact with the complainant.

She ordered the defendant to do 40 hours unpaid work in the community and pay £85 court costs.