AN OBSESSIVE ex has been banned from Swindon until 2023 after he admitted stalking his former partner.

Akmol Hussain, 29, visited the woman’s work, made threats and sent her personalised keyrings – even after magistrates imposed a stalking protection order banning him from contacting her.

The Bedford man admitted to the probation service that the woman, who lives in Swindon, would have been terrified. He was remorseful.

Imposing a 12 week prison sentence suspended for two years, chairman of the bench Martin Smith said the offences were so serious it had crossed the custody threshold.

He told Hussain: “Even you say she would have been terrified and distress and we also note you said you would turn up at her place of work and you did so.”

Prosecutor Keith Ballinger said the defendant and his victim had been in a relationship for around three years.

By around June last year the relationship had fizzled out. Hussain had stopped talking to her and she assumed the relationship was over.

At the start of September, he began to message her again. He also sent an explicit photograph of her to her new boyfriend and threatened to send similar photographs to the woman’s father.

He bombarded her with calls and messages, with around 200 messages sent on one occasion last autumn. When she blocked him, he set up new social media accounts.

The defendant threatened to come down to Swindon to see her – even visiting her at work – and ordered she had “better respond to his messages by 3pm because he’s coming”, Mr Ballinger said.

Detectives from Wiltshire Police obtained an interim stalking protection order in early November, with magistrates banning Hussain from having any contact with his former partner.

He continued to make contact with her despite the new court order. He sent her personalised keyrings containing messages from a John Legend song and contacting her via Twitter.

Andy Cave, mitigating, said his client was extremely remorseful. He had since been diagnosed with anxiety and depression.

Hussain, of Alexandra Road, Bedford, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to stalking, disclosing private sexual images and breaching an interim stalking protection order. He had no previous convictions.

He was made subject to a 30 month restraining order banning him from contacting his ex or entering the borough of Swindon unless passing through on the M4.