A STALKER entered his former partner’s back garden and watched over her home during a two-month campaign of harassment.

Michael Dutton, from Padgate, also bombarded his victim with an ‘excessive’ number of messages and calls between February and April this year.

The 37-year-old admitted harassment and was handed 100 hours of unpaid work at Warrington Magistrates Court on Tuesday, May 4.

He was also given a rehabilitation activity requirement of up to 35 days, told to undergo a 30-day relationships programme and ordered to pay £100 in compensation, a £95 victim surcharge and court costs of £85.

Magistrates gave Dutton, of Blenheim Close, a restraining order preventing him from contacting his ex for the next 30 months.