Man made ex's life misery with hundreds of calls

A man made his ex-partner's life a "misery" by bombarding her with hundreds of text messages and phone calls in breach of a restraining order.

Daniel Allison, 30, had a history of harassing the woman and breaching court orders banning him from contacting her, Newcastle Crown Court heard.

He called her more than 200 times and deluged her with more than 250 text messages over a week in February.

Allison, of Holystone Avenue in Newsham, Blyth, was jailed for one year and four months having admitted stalking and breaching a restraining order, but his victim said she expected him to do it again upon release.

Allison and the woman began their relationship in 2016 but it was marked by his controlling behaviour and violence, prosecutor Estelle Chambers said.

Despite him attempting to manipulate her by saying he would kill himself if she left, the woman ended the relationship in 2021, the court heard.

Two restraining orders were made after he harassed her and caused criminal damage, the latter not expiring until June 2028.

Despite it being illegal for him to contact her, he went to pubs in Blyth where he knew she would be and then, between 7 and 15 February, relentlessly called and messaged her, the court heard.

He had already breached the order seven times between July 2023 and November 2024, Ms Chambers said.

In a statement read to the court, the woman said it was the "same vicious cycle over and over" with the restraining orders meaning nothing to Allison.

"It's literally just a piece of paper," she said, adding she feared and expected him to contact her again when he was released from his latest sentence.

In mitigation, Sophie Johnstone said Allison now realised the impact he was having and offered his apology, but Recorder Geraldine Kelly said she took that with a "pinch of salt".

Allison had been a "thorough nuisance" who did "not seem interested in learning" from his previous short jail terms, the judge said.

"You just do what you want to do regardless of what an utter misery you are making her life," Recorder Kelly told Allison.

She said Allison knew what he was doing was wrong but had neither the courage nor decency to admit it when he was arrested by police, having told officers he was not responsible for any of the calls or messages.

The judge said Allison posed a "high risk of spousal assault" and his apology would come as "no consolation whatsoever" to his ex-partner.

Allison was warned the restraining order remained in place and further breaches would see him jailed for longer and longer periods.

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