A DRUNKEN stalker has been jailed for subjecting his ex-partner to a campaign of hate in which he smashed the windows of her car and said he hoped she would die. 

Christopher Kelly, from Newton Abbot, was drinking a litre of gin a day when he bombarded the woman with scores of unwanted calls and messages and tried to visit her at her home in Starcross.

Some of the messages were pleas to re-start their relationship but they turned to abuse when she did not answer or brushed him off, Exeter Crown Court was told.

Kelly has a decade long history of subjecting his partners to violence and verbal abuse and has been described as a misogynist and a danger to women in previous cases.

He was half way through a probation-run course called Building Better Relationships when he carried out the new offences, which put him in breach of a suspended sentence which was for almost identical behaviour. 

He has now been banned from contacting his latest victim or going into any of the streets adjoining the one where she lives and warned he will be sent straight to jail if he breaks the restraining order.

Kelly, 56, of West Golds Way, Newton Abbot, admitted harassment, criminal damage and breach of an earlier suspended sentence. 

He was jailed for 36 weeks by Judge David Evans. 

He told him: ‘When she finally and unequivocally ended the relationship, you bombarded her with unwanted contact asking her to talk to you or stop ignoring you. 

‘She only responded once and that was to reiterate that she did not want any contact.

‘When you were arrested, you were bordering on the delusional by suggesting you were still in a relationship. 

‘You have a number of convictions for domestically abusive behaviour. You have been subject to a domestic abuse programme with no effect.

‘You cannot continue to offend so selfishly, unpleasantly and frighteningly towards women who have told you that enough is enough. If someone tells you it is over, that’s that.’

Mr Lewis Aldous, prosecuting, said Kelly’s partner ended their three-year on-off relationship because of his drinking and erratic behaviour and he responded by smashing windows in her car in November last year and then sending a stream of messages, calls and e-mails.

The woman had 150 missed calls on one day alone and one message told her ‘I hope that you die’. 

His previous offences against partners include assaults, on one occasion with a knife, and malicious messages which a Judge described as ‘vile verbal abuse’. 

Mr Paul Dentith, defending, said Kelly was drinking a litre of gin a day at the time but is now keen to address his alcoholism. He recognises that his only chance of doing so is at a residential rehabilitation centre. 

He said Kelly's problems stem from a very difficult and abusive childhood and his use of drink and drugs as a coping mechanism.