A MAN forbidden from contacting his ex-partner breached a court order by video calling her.

Ryan Lee Eccles received a suspended prison sentence at Durham Crown Court, last November, for harassment and other offences against his former partner.

An indefinite restraining order was put in place prohibiting contact by any means with his ‘ex’.

But on January 14 she received what she believed was a video call from Eccles’ mother, with whom she still had contact.

Durham Crown Court was told that when she accepted the call, Eccles’ face appeared on screen and it emerged she had received messages from him via the same account.

While on bail, Eccles caused damage and threatened further damage at supported accommodation where he was living, in Murton, in May.

The 22-year-old defendant, of Cornwall Court, Murton, admitted breaching a restraining order, criminal damage and threats to cause criminal damage, obstructing a police officer who came to arrest him, plus breaching the suspended sentence.

Judge Ray Singh activated a year of the suspended sentence and said the restraining order would remain in place, indefinitely.