A NORTH-East man accused of stalking his young neighbour for more than a year was cleared by Darlington magistrates yesterday.

Leslie Norman Brown, 53, of Albert Place, Darlington, was accused of stalking by his neighbour and former colleague, Sarah Astwood.

Miss Astwood had accused him of having a closed-circuit television camera pointed at her home and said he made 17 phone calls to her in one night.

She also claimed he was stalking her when she went out shopping or to college.

The two became friends while working at a residential care home and the friendship grew stronger when Miss Astwood moved into Mr Brown's street with her partner, Andrew Nockles and their young baby son.

Miss Astwood told the court Mr Brown was a frequent visitor to her house, but she became worried when he started visiting her for coffee every day, the court heard.

She said she tried to ignore him but claimed he had phoned her home and become abusive, after she tried to walk past him in the street.

Miss Astwood and Mr Nockles also claimed Mr Brown had left abusive messages on their answer phone until 2am.

PC Rachel Scott, formerly of Darlington Police, said when Mr Brown's house was searched she discovered three framed photographs of Miss Astwood and a CCTV camera with a television link in his bedroom, pointed towards Miss Astwood's house.

But Mr Brown said he had CCTV for his own security and, because he had no family, put up photos of his friends in the house.

He denied stalking her, saying: "That is not true. It is impossible for me to follow her because she drives and I use public transport.

"The CCTV camera was pointing towards her house because it was impossible for me to point it anywhere else if I wanted to stop people throwing eggs at my windows."

He added that he had only made one phone call to Miss Astwood's home, to find out why she had ignored him in the street.

Mr Brown, who had denied the charge, was found not guilty.