A CAMPAIGN of intimidation and threats has landed a woman in prison for flagrant breaches of a restraining order.

Claire Whaley bombarded her former partner with hundreds of telephone calls, social media postings and abusive threats.

The 33-year-old was furious that the man had gone back to his previous partner despite the pair having a child together, Teesside Crown Court heard.

Throughout the concerted campaign, Whaley left the couple feeling threatened and meant they had to move home to try to escape her abuse.

Paul Newcombe, prosecuting, said the defendant had pleaded guilty to three breaches of the restraining order between mid December and early January.

The court heard how Whaley, of Warwick Square, Darlington, had previously breached the order on the same day it was imposed in February last year.

He said amongst the plethora of abusive messages Whaley told the victim's partner that he was cheating on her and was carrying a sexually transmitted infection before issuing a number of death threats against the pair.

"They had to move house and the man had to change his mobile phone number," he said. "The order was breached on the same day is was issued and it was breached again in March."

Outlining the level of abuse the couple endured, Mr Newcombe said: "On January 7, she threatened him again, she threatened to kill him, claiming that she had somebody who wanted to fight him."

Whaley also used an alias to contact the couple on social media where she said they would not "get away with what they are doing".

In a statement, the woman victim said she was left feeling stressed and anxious by the barrage of abuse and dreaded checking her phone for fear of discovering missed calls or threatening messages.

In mitigation, Kelleigh Lodge, said her client and the man had a baby together but Whaley had put the baby up for adoption, which had resulted in her contacting her former partner.

Miss Lodge told the court that the 33-year-old had suffered with mental health problems and had suffered at least three psychotic episode.

Calling on the judge to pass a suspended sentence, Miss Lodge said: "There would be no issue with having any further contact with them any longer as the baby was adopted by a different family."

Judge Stephen Ashurst sentenced Whaley to a total of 15 months for the repeated breaches.

He said: "You carried on making death threats, you were naming them on social media and you were taking no notice of the restraining order, which was made to protect them from you."

The judge issued a new five-year restraining order, saying: "Leave them alone, if you do that you can move on with your life; if you don't you could well find yourself back in court."