A jilted man stalked his former girlfriend when she went for nights out, a court heard yesterday.

Warren Carter, 29, punched Helen Riley in the back of the head as she sat with friends in a pizza parlour.

On another occasion he went down on one knee at her table in a crowded restaurant and asked her to marry him, Teesside Crown Court was told.

Aisha Wadoodi, prosecuting, said Carter also drove his car at her as she climbed into a taxi after drinks with friends.

The stalking also included driving past Miss Riley's Middlesbrough home 11 times in the space of six hours and bombarding her with phone calls, said Miss Wadoodi.

She said Carter threatened to burn her house down and damage her car.

Carter, of Barsby Green, Middlesbrough, admitted harassing Miss Riley from last December until March.

Peter Sabiston, defending, said Carter now accepted that the six-month relationship was over.

He said there had been no further trouble since March, and Carter now had a new girlfriend.

Carter was given 200 hours community service work and was ordered to pay Miss Riley £300 compensation, and £300 costs.

Judge Peter Bowers told him: "You have come within a whisker of being sent to prison and that that is where you will go if there is any repetition."