A PREVIOUSLY jailed domestic bully put a recent ex-partner through an, “horrific campaign of harassment”, after she ended their relationship, a court heard.

David Newlands was in what was described as, "a short and turbulent” relationship with the woman who he met over Facebook, after she separated from her husband.

Durham Crown Court heard it included him staying at her home in Catterick, North Yorkshire, and she also visited him in his native Glasgow.

But as the relationship quickly deteriorated, partly through his drunken behaviour, she became concerned and put him on a train at Darlington Railway Station, to go back to Glasgow.

She moved to a new address in Newton Aycliffe but he bombarded her with phone calls, and messages, in which she made it clear she no longer wanted to see him, but he repeatedly stated he wished to keep seeing her.

Neil Jones, prosecuting, said on June 23 last year he contacted her saying he was in Edinburgh, en-route by train to see her, and could she pick him up when he got to Darlington station, or should he get a taxi to her home.

She decided to spend the night at her parents’ home, 30-miles away, but the following morning woke to eight missed calls and other text messages saying he was stranded in Darlington and, if she “gave a f**k”, she would answer his calls.

The fearful woman contacted the police, but while still staying at her parents’ home, received a message saying Newlands slept in her garden shed in Newton Aycliffe, on June 25.

When she later returned home she discovered items moved about in the shed, indicating he had spent the night there.

He later contacted her, using a nurse’s phone, to say he was in Darlington Memorial Hospital and could she provide him with clean underwear and other clothing.

She again contacted police, but Newlands absconded from the hospital.

Mr Jones said it emerged Newlands had said on admission that his partner had dropped him off, concerned at his persistent shaking, but it appeared to have been caused by alcohol withdrawal symptoms.

Newlands again messaged her to say he knew she was staying at her parents’ home, and it emerged a neighbour in Newton Aycliffe reported to police having seen the defendant in the vicinity of her home.

He was arrested on June 25, last year, at a fitness centre in Newton Aycliffe, and, after being interviewed the following day he was bailed on condition that he did not contact or approach his ex-partner, while he was also forbidden from entering County Durham.

Although he returned to Glasgow, he breached the conditions 11 times, by trying to contact the woman, once through a third party and at other times using pseudonyms, while in one message he threatened to, “blow up her gaffe”.

In her victim statement the woman said Newlands had ruined her life, causing her to suffer panic attacks and serious mental health problems, leading to thoughts of self-harm, while she has also become ultra-security conscious.

Thirty-year-old Newlands, of Collina Quadrant, Maryhill, Glasgow, admitted a charge of stalking on May 30 at the court after which the case was adjourned for preparation of a background report by the Probation Service.

Read more: Man jailed for previous spate of crime in North East

The sentencing hearing was told he served a previous 20-month prison sentence for assaulting a former partner, a nurse, in Glasgow, in 2020.

Amrit Jandoo, in mitigating his latest offence, said, perhaps through alcohol misuse, there was a lack of awareness on the defendant’s part, and he, “had not appreciated why she didn’t want to continue the relationship.”

Newlands himself read a short note apologising both for his actions, which he said could not be justified, and for the, “pain and suffering”, he has caused.

Judge Ray Singh told Newlands: “This was an horrific campaign of harassment.

“It was sustained and persistent, causing misery and suffering over a significant period of time, from May to the end of October 2021.”

Imposing a 31-month prison sentence, Judge Singh also made Newlands subject of a lifetime restraining order forbidding him from trying to contact or approach the victim in the case.

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