A MAN who started harassing his former partner within minutes of being freed from prison for doing exactly the same is back behind bars.

Kenneth Cooper was jailed for 18 months and the 48-year-old was told by a judge it will be even longer if he does it again.

Cooper ended his 22-week sentence on July 21, and "literally the first thing he did" was contact his ex, Teesside Crown Court heard.

Prosecutor Emma Atkinson told the court that it was the tenth time he had breached a restraining order since it was made in July 2015.

The Redcar couple had known each other since they were children, had been in a relationship for 35 years and have three children.

Miss Atkinson said the union had been violent before it came to an end, but Cooper was not deterred by the court order banning contact.

After walking out of Holme House Prison, he made repeated telephone calls to his former partner and said he wanted to get back together.

The following morning, the woman woke to find 25 missed calls and went to visit a friend, but Cooper turned up outside the house.

In a statement, she said: "He is torturing me. I have no life when he is out of prison, and he constantly makes my life a misery."

She added: "I can't enjoy my life and he just has to accept the relationship is over and I don't want to be with him."

Alex Bousfield, mitigating, told Judge Tony Briggs: "He understands that repeated breaches like this will result in custodial sentences."

Cooper, of Wykeham Close, Redcar, admitted charges of breaching the restraining order and harassment at an earlier court hearing.

Judge Briggs told him: "You have an unfortunate history of breaching orders which are made by courts to protect those who seek them.

"These offences arose immediately upon your release from a 22-week sentence, and that obviously makes this a very serious matter.

"I bear in mind that you have been on a course while in prison, and your attitudes are beginning to change."

Cooper was put back behind bars on remand hours after he had been released, and has been on a domestic violence course.

Mr Bowsfield said: "There were some issues when he was a child, and he realises that he has been repeating them.

"There has clearly been a long and difficult relationship. They have known each other for 35 years, since they were children.

"He is concerned about his relationship with his children, and has come to realise that if he continues to cause problems for their mother, that will impact on his contact with them."