A BULLY who plagued his ex-partner with dozens of menacing phone calls just days after being slapped with a restraining order is behind bars.

John Wilson was given a ten-month suspended prison sentence last August for offences of false imprisonment against the woman and criminal damage.

Judge Sean Morris also imposed the restraining order, but spared Wilson, 24, immediate custody after hearing he had a chance of joining the Army.

But just four days later, he started making “ghost calls” to the victim – 45 in the first ten days – prosecutor Nigel Soppitt told Teesside Crown Court.

There were 64 calls in all over a six-week period, including one in which he told the woman to “f*** off”, and one when he made sexual noises.

Defence lawyer Amrit Jandoo pleaded for Wilson to be given another chance to prove himself, and enlist with the Armoured Engineer Squadron.

He told the court: “He has accepted that his behaviour was nothing more than childishness in not being able to accept the end of the relationship.

“Your Honour could make terms of the suspended sentence order more onerous to give him the sharp shock of knowing how close he has come to custody.

“The calls were over six weeks, and were nothing more menacing than crank calling. His behaviour can be described as nothing more than petulant.”

Judge Morris said: “It is not crank. Anybody who has been in a relationship when you have this kind of thing, it is debilitating – not a laugh.”

Wilson, of Surtees Street, Darlington, pleaded guilty to breaching the restraining order when he was due to stand trial before magistrates in November.

His victim – who had also been contacted by his new girlfriend – turned up at court to give evidence, and told of her worries at having to do so.

In an impact statement, she said: “I am confident John has no intention of leaving me alone, and is prepared to harass me despite the court order.”

Jailing him for a total of 18 months, Judge Morris told Wilson: “This case will be reserved to me, and I am going to lock you up for longer and longer and longer every time you breach this order.

“Your prospective career in the Army is over. You are not a fit and proper person to serve in any regiment.

“Although there is no violence, I am satisfied that to plague a woman in this way when she has sought the protection of the courts, then putting her through the trauma of having to wait weeks to give evidence is significant psychological harm.

“You came before me some time ago – not long ago – and I gave you a chance. I was assured that you had put this behind you. It was a lie.

“Because you were looking at a career in the Army, I gave you a suspended sentence on the understanding that may mean you could get a job and move away from this woman and start anew.

“But all along, behind my back, you were behaving like a complete bully and a torturer – a mental torturer.”

In her statement, the victim said: “I was very worried about attending court on the first occasion, but was determined to go through with it after what he had put me through.

“I was relieved when he pleaded guilty because it meant I did not have to relive it. I’m trying hard to move on with my life.

“I am still young and should not have been put through what I have at my age. I just want to be left alone.”

Wilson was given a ten-month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, with unpaid community work, for the offences last summer.