A North East man has been handed a sentence of nearly four years this week after carrying out a campaign of abuse against his former partner.

Robbie Gibson, 20, formerly of Eddison Way in Hemlington, has been jailed for three years and eight months after pleading guilty to a barrage of abuse against a former partner.

The Middlesbrough man had previously assaulted the woman numerous times, including an attack with a metal pole which left her injured.

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The Northern Echo:

Cleveland Police have confirmed following his initial arrest and charge, Gibson admitted in court to controlling and coercive behaviour, witness intimidation, and numerous counts of perverting the course of justice.

Detective Constable Shaun Townsend said: "This was a terrifying experience for the victim, who was not only assaulted by Robbie Gibson but was also subjected to controlling behaviour, harassment, threats and intimidation.

"She was even put in a police cell whilst enquiries were made into numerous allegations against her which turned out to be false and malicious.

"Abuse of this kind will not be tolerated and thanks to the woman's bravery in coming forward and the police investigation which followed, Gibson is now rightly behind bars, where he will spend a significant amount of time for his continued torment of his victim.

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"I hope this sentence goes some way towards bringing some comfort to her and hope she can now begin to move forward with her life."

Cleveland Police have said Gibson breached his bail after harassing the victim with 119 phone calls, in attempts to terrorise her.

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Meanwhile, he also made a number of serious allegations about her including that she had broken his leg with a hammer and "threatened to kill him".

Police confirmed these claims were found to be false and malicious, and had wasted hundreds of hours of police time and led to her wrongly being arrested.

After being charged and remanded into custody, Gibson continued to terrorise the victim by repeatedly writing to her and making threats to harm her.