Relentless thugs who couldn't stand being told 'no', these men made their former partners' lives hell after being rejected.
Brought before North East courts this year, they all harassed women with whom they'd previously been in relationships. Some were also guilty of physical attacks and other crimes, including coercive control while they were still dating their victim.
Whilst many picture stalking as the act of a delusional stranger, the problem of former romantic connections turning to harassment is widespread. According to the Suzy Lamplugh Trust, around 45% of those who contact their helpline for support are being stalked by an ex-partner, while the police have warned stalking became even more prevalent during the pandemic.
Read more: Murdered stalking victim's mum tells of fight to save others from stalkers
Here are some of those sentenced for the crime in the North East over recent months:
Paul Clay - for 27 months for stalking and coercive control
Controlling boyfriend Paul Clay turned stalker after a woman escaped from a violent and abusive relationship with him.
He isolated his girlfriend from her family and would become violent after "running out of cannabis", Durham Crown Court heard in Feburary. The 25-year-old would regularly degrade the woman by calling her a "fat pig" and once threw her into a Christmas tree and smashed up her presents.
The court heard Clay and the woman had been in an 18 month relationship, which came to an end in March last year. Joseph Hedworth, prosecuting, said when the woman moved in with Clay in February 2020, Clay began to "regularly assault" and "emotionally abuse" her.
When the violent relationship eventually ended, Clay continued to bombard the woman with messages from fake Facebook accounts and would threaten to turn up at her workplace. Clay was arrested in August last year and admitted he assaulted her and even referred to her as a "fat pig" in police interview.
Clay, of Chestnut Avenue, Spennymoor, pleaded guilty to stalking and controlling and coercive behaviour and Judge Ray Singh jailed him for 27 months and made him subject of a 10-year restraining order.
Imran Mahmood - jailed for ten months for harassment by way of stalking
Imran Mahmood left his former partner terrified by bombarding her with threatening messages during a campaign of stalking.
The dumped boyfriend turned nasty after his ten-year volatile relationship with the woman came to an end. In Feburary, Elizabeth Muir, prosecuting, told Newcastle Crown Court he had been verbally abusive to the victim, calling her a "fat s**g" and issuing threats to her and her family and friends.
At the end of November, she told him the relationship was over and he responded with aggression and she had to get the police to remove him from her home two days running.
Miss Muir said: "This led to a bombardment of phone calls and texts. They were abusive and threatening and referred to her in particularly unpleasant language and threatened to slander her on Facebook.
"He uploaded her picture saying 'happy birthday you f****** grass' and threatened to assault her and stab her. She believed the threats to be genuine and she would not leave her house."
Mahmood, 36, of Allendale Road, Byker, Newcastle, began using a new phone number, from which he sent a barrage of further abusive messages and calls. In one 24 hour period he phoned her 50 times, the court heard. He said "there will be murders tonight" and that he would stab her and no one would come to help her.
Miss Muir said more than 200 messages were recorded. Recorder Andrew Smith said the woman had referred to their former relationship as abusive but that he was only sentencing Mahmood for harassment by way of stalking between November 23 and December 2, to which he pleaded guilty.
The judge jailed him for ten months and imposed a restraining order.
Declan King - six-month suspended sentence for stalking, burglary and assault
Declan King scaled a drainpipe to spy on his ex before assaulting her and stealing her handbag. He had a history of reacting badly when his relationships ended and the demise of his brief romance with the victim was no exception, North Tyneside Magistrates' Court heard in February.
The 27-year-old started bombarding the woman with calls and texts, demanding to know where she was and who she was with, and followed her in his van. King's stalking campaign continued for more than two weeks, during which time he even climbed a drain pipe outside her home in order to spy on her through a window.
However, King's obsessive behaviour eventually came to a head when he forced his way into the victim's home before grabbing her around the throat and throwing her on the ground before fleeing with her handbag.
King, of Gilsland Avenue, in Wallsend, was arrested but pleaded not guilty to one count each of stalking, burglary and assault. On the day of the trial, he admitted the stalking offence but was found guilty of the two other charges.
The thug, who has previous convictions for domestic violence against two other woman, has narrowly avoided being locked up after he was given a six-month prison sentence, suspended for two years.
Gary Ridler - jailed for 28 months for stalking and having a machete
Obsessed stalker Gary Ridler threatened to cut up his ex's dog and chop her head off after she dumped him when she found out he was a sex offender. Ridler had been involved in a brief relationship with the mum, which she ended after finding out he was on the sex offenders register.
That sparked a prolonged campaign of stalking which left the woman living in fear. He twice gained entry to her home and on one occasion turned up with a machete and told her he had a bottle of petrol.
Newcastle Crown Court heard he tried to get her to retract an earlier statement to police by saying he would petrol bomb the houses of those closest to her while making the vile threats about the dog and saying he would behead the woman.
This month Ridler, 39, of Graham Avenue, Whickham, Gateshead, was jailed for 28 months after admitting stalking and having the machete.
Benjamin Pooley - eight-month suspended sentence for breaching a restraining order
Obsessive stalker Benjamin Pooley found himself in court once again in February for breaking an order not to contact his victim. Pooley was given a suspended prison sentence in 2020 for subjecting his former partner to a stalking campaign where he bombarded her with calls after the breakdown of an 11-year relationship.
The 32-year-old was later jailed for six months after being found in the woman's garden shed, despite also being subject of a five year restraining order. Then, after his release from that prison sentence, the woman woke up to find Pooley standing in her bedroom at 4am on July 4, 2020 - an incident for which he was jailed for eight months for breaching the restraining order and common assault.
But Pooley was once again back in front of a judge at Newcastle Crown Court last month, for breaching the restraining order once again. The court was told Pooley, of Mount Grove, Dunston, Gateshead, had left the woman "very distressed" and "terrified" when he contacted her on the phone on July 31 last year.
He was given an eight month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months and was ordered to complete 25 rehabilitation activity days. He must also pay £450 costs and complete a Building Better Relationships programme.
Gary Robinson - jailed for nine months for violent stalking and other crimes
Violent stalker Gary Robinson attacked his former partner in front of her son and smashed their home up before warning "this is not over".
He had already been spared prison for harassing another ex, Newcastle Crown Court heard in February. Then, on September 2 last year, Robinson went to another woman's home in Seghill, Northumberland, and trashed it while she was out, causing significant damage and distress.
Using a key he had retained after they split up, he got in and smashed items including a TV, ipads, internal doors, mirrors, crockery and ripped off a door frame. He also damaged her car. The victim also found frightening door bell camera footage of him warning: "This is not over, watch."
Police went to his home looking for him and found five cannabis plants and a knuckle duster. He later refused to give a specimen when they caught up with him.
Matters settled down between Robinson and the woman for a time after he apologised and they started talking again. But the 50-year-old, of Bardolph Road, North Shields, soon started being abusive again and on October 11 he turned up at her home at 4am while she was asleep, shouting abuse at her son, attacking her and damaging possessions.
Over the following few weeks, he then sent a series of threatening messages and threatened to burn her house down.
Robinson pleaded guilty to stalking causing fear of violence, criminal damage, producing cannabis, possessing an offensive weapon and failing to provide a specimen. He was jailed for nine months, given a five year restraining order and banned from driving for 13 months
