A MAN has been jailed for the second time in two months for breaching a restraining order.

Edward Franklin, of Windsor Street, Trimdon Station, County Durham, was slapped with the order earlier this year following a complaint over his behaviour towards a woman.

Since January the 33-year-old has breached the order four times.

It forbids any direct or indirect contact with the woman, going within 100 metres of her home and within 50 metres of her.

Newton Aycliffe Magistrates’ Court heard yesterday how Franklin sent a letter to the woman in January, walked within 100 metres of her home in March and in April was jailed after he knocked on her door.

On Monday he was caught on the complainant’s CCTV system as he walking alongside her house.

He was stopped by police and struggled as they attempted to arrest him.

Stephen Andrews, mitigating, said he accepted and apologised “unreservedly” for the breach which, he claimed, was a result of going to his father’s house to complete documents to ensure he got his benefits.

Magistrates sentenced Franklin to four weeks in custody after he pleaded guilty to the breach.

There was no separate penalty for obstructing a constable in the execution of his duty, which he also admitted.