A STALKER who threw a brick through his ex-partner's kitchen window and set up fake Facebook profiles to abuse her has been jailed.
Cocaine-snorting former car salesman Richard Aston admitted criminal damage and stalking against a former partner who was forced to move out of her home because of his behaviour.
Aston spent his 40th birthday in jail, Worcester Crown Court heard on Friday.
Aston of Fels Avenue, off Newtown Road, Worcester, admitted criminal damage after breaking the £350 window with a brick on November 20 last year.
He further admitted stalking her between November 19 and 30 which led to an interim restraining order. Both offences were committed on licence.
The woman had been at her home with a male friend when Aston came to the door and said 'I know you've got a man in there. Who is it?'.
The woman told him to 'go away' but Aston continued banging on the door, the court heard.
Simon Davies, prosecuting, said: "There was shouting and screaming coming from him. As she was on the phone a large rock came through the kitchen window."
The 'rock' was later described by the victim as a piece of masonry or a brick about 1ft by 1ft. She later received a voicemail from an unidentified number but recognised the defendant's voice. Aston's voicemail said: "Make sure you say bye to him - he's dead."
On November 22 last year she was in the process of moving out when she saw the defendant standing by a wall near her home before he ducked behind it.
When Aston was arrested on November 29 he claimed he would have been 'either at his mum's or at the pub' when the incidents took place.
On the same date he posted a series of Facebook messages described as 'derogatory' by the prosecution. One of the fake profiles read: "STD, that's my middle name. Come and get it'.
The victim was warned by friends and family what Aston was doing. One of the messages read: "You're not a model. You're a whore with a camera phone."
Another message included a photograph of the victim and the message 'I have herpes #slag'.
A victim personal statement was read out by the prosecutor who described how she felt 'scared and embarrassed' and had to go to her GP to get medication because of the defendant's actions.
"She is unable to sleep and is concerned about her mental health. She is also concerned about what he will do if and when he is released" said Mr Davies.
The prosecutor said there were a number of aggravating features including that the victim had been forced to leave her home, Aston's history of disobedience to court orders and his previous convictions.
On May 31, 2016 Aston was made subject to an eight week prison sentence suspended for 12 months for harassment, breaching the order in July of that year.
Mr Davies described how Aston assaulted the same woman on February 18 last year. He had stayed the night at her home but when she asked him to leave he refused.
"He assaulted her by pushing her repeatedly on the chest causing her to be forced back onto a railing, thereby causing bruising to her back" said Mr Davies.
She later heard a bang and discovered a neighbour's plant pot had been used to smash her windscreen. As a result Aston was sent to prison for 11 weeks.
Probation officer Ignatius Concannon who interviewed Aston told the court the defendant previously ran car dealerships, had met the victim at work while in a 16-year relationship with someone else and that cocaine became 'an everyday drug' which 'coincided with everything going wrong'.
He told the probation officer he lost his driving licence through drink driving and said his use of cocaine had 'eroded everything good about him' and had made him 'paranoid'.
"He said he hated his own life and on one occasion tried to take his own life" said Mr Concannon.
The defendant described end of their relationship as 'like having his heart torn out'.
Jason Aris, defending, said: "He recoiled in horror at what he had been up to and did not recognise himself.
"He describes being disgusted by what he did and what he became."
Mr Aris asked that Aston be given credit for his early guilty plea and said his client had an offer of work, referring to his period in custody as 'a sharp wakeup'.
Aston no longer takes cocaine and had been moved onto the enhanced wing in prison after helping other prisoners with their reading.
Mr Aris described the father as having 'turned a corner in his life' and that he had shown 'considerable insight'.
"I invite your Honour to take a chance on this defendant" said Mr Aris, arguing that he was a man who could be rehabilitated.
Judge Nicolas Cartwright jailed him for six months and told him it was not possible to suspend the sentence because of his history of repeat offending during the currency of a suspended sentence order.
Aston remains subject to a restraining order which prevents him having contact, directly or indirectly by any means (including by phone, email or social networking site accept via a solicitor or order of the family court) with the woman.
He must not go to her address in Droitwich or the address of her parents in Ombersley.
An additional paragraph was added which stipulates that Aston must not post any material online which purports to come from the victim or any material about her.
The restraining order was made until further order.
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