A stalker has been told he must end a year long campaign of harassment against his ex partner after he admitted breaking an order not to contact her.
Mark White had already served a jail sentence for stalking his ex girlfriend and was banned from contacting her in any way when he sent her a letter demanding £15,000.
The letter threatened to take her to court over the bill for building work he claimed to have carried out at her home in Dawlish when they were still together.
The six page letter purported to be dealing with a commercial dispute and he said it was written in accordance with County Court guidelines which urge parties in disputes to try to settle them before starting proceedings.
The victim saw it as a threatening letter which continued a long period of distressing harassment, Exeter Crown Court was told.
White, aged 41, of Park Road, Dawlish, admitted breaching a restraining order and was jailed for six months, suspended for two years by Recorder Mr Frank Abbott.
He told him:"This was a deliberate breach of the order but I accept it was within the context of you having a claim against your ex partner.
"You told her of your potential claim and asked her what she thought about it. I sentence you on the basis this was a misguided, but in my view quite deliberate, attempt to put across your complaint. By its nature it was unpleasant.
"It was ostensibly designed to be part of preparing a claim against her in the civil court. I take into account it was only one breach of the order and there have been no further breaches.
"There is no need for immediate custody. You cannot commit any other offence. You will have this hanging over your head and if there is a repeat, you will go to prison again for much longer."
Mr James Taghdissian, prosecuting, said White was forbidden to send any sort of letter as a result of a restraining order made in 2013 and made tight and unequivocal when he was jailed at Exeter Crown Court in July last year.
White was jailed for ten months but when he was released he wanted to resume his commercial dispute over the building work.
The order required him to send any letters through a solicitor but he could not get legal aid and sent on direct, which contained a demand for £15,000 as well as rambling writing about their relationship.
Mr Taghdissian said:"She perceived the letter as containing a veiled threat. The prosecution take no view on whether there is a debt of £15,000.
"The order in place at the time prohibited any form of contact, direct or indirect over his dispute with Mrs Ryder about work at Old Town Street except by a solicitor."
Mr Michael Phillips, defending, said White had been trying to comply with the protocols of the Small Claims Court and there was a danger that his access to justice was being restricted by the order which he breached.
He said White intends to pursue his claim for money but has no desire to harass the woman and plans to move away from the area and go to the West Midlands.
He said White had been confused about exactly what he was allowed to do under the order because he had not received a written copy when he was in jail.
