A DELUDED stalker left his victim too scared to answer the door after targeting her when he believed he was in a relationship with her.

Ian Bedford was befriended by the woman after bumping into him in Stockton as she felt sorry for her dead father's friend.

The 58-year-old's obsession with the younger woman boiled over between April and October 2018 when he started following her home from the Stockton church they both attended and bombarded her with calls.

Teesside Crown Court heard how during a night out the victim was grabbed by the arm and shouted in her face – 'dirty little****, you will get what's coming to you'.

Jenny Haigh, prosecuting, said his six-month campaign of harassment left the victim severely anxious and having to take time off work while she attempted to recover from her ordeal.

Miss Haigh said: "She was aware that he had mental health issues, she felt sorry for him and she thought she could be a friend and offer him some support.

"She came to court with him when he was sentenced over a similar incident with a former partner. He got it into his head that they may have had some sort of relationship."

Bedford, of Ashbourne Road, Stockton, pleaded guilty to stalking his former friend.

Brian Russell, mitigating, urged the judge to spare his client from custody after he addressed his problem with alcohol and is now in a settled relationship with another woman.

Judge Jonathan Carroll said: "She denied that she had ever had an intimate relationship with you but for some reason you became fixated with her. She realised at the time that you had mental health difficulties caused by your excessive drinking."

He added: "She was forced to change her address, she is unable, even now, to return to work full time; she still struggles with anxiety and struggles to answer her door for fear of it being you there."

The judge sentenced Bedford to eight weeks in custody, suspended for 18 months and ordered him to attend 25 rehabilitation activity requirement days.