A man who stalked his former partner after a friend posted a picture of her on Instagram while she was at a mountain bike festival has the ‘sword of Damocles’ hanging over him.

Craig Wilson was issued with an indefinite restraining order after he turned up at the even in the Dales and attempted to speak to her when he appeared in the doorway of her campervan with his hood up.

Teesside Crown Court heard how the 42-year-old left his Darlington home within minutes of spotting the photograph on social media and his car was caught on automatic number plate recognition cameras heading towards Reeth.

Shaun Dryden, prosecuting, said they had been in a relationship for around 18-months between June 2016 and November 2017 when the woman ended the relationship.

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He told the court that the woman had to get a restraining order the following year but after it had expired Wilson attempted to contact her again at the Ard Rock mountain bike racing event.

“She had returned to her campervan and had left the side door open,” he said. “A male approached the door and said - ‘do you want to talk?’ – he then lowered his hood and she realised that it was the defendant.

“He told her he was racing at the same event as her. She became distressed and upset and called the police.”

Mr Dryden said the defendant left the campsite and his car was caught on ANPR cameras returning to Darlington.

Following his arrest, the defendant told officers that it was his victim who has chosen to park next to him and he had left the area as it was him who was upset.

Wilson, of Rymers Court, Darlington, pleaded guilty to a single charge of stalking following his arrest in August 2021.

Martin Towers, mitigating, said the tower crane operator was now in a new relationship and had a character reference from another previous partner supporting him.

He added: “There was no threat of violence or attempt to use violence in this case.”

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Judge Howard Crowson sentenced the defendant to 15 weeks in custody, suspended for 12 months and issued him with an indefinite restraining order to protect the victim.

“You now have the sword of Damocles hanging over you,” he warned. 2This was persistent behaviour which caused significant distress to her and she made significant changes to her lifestyle as a result.”

Wilson was also ordered to carry out 120 hours of unpaid work.