EXETER court reporter Ted Davenport writes for the Herald.

A ‘spiteful’ stalker whose relentless harassment forced his ex-partner to flee her home has been jailed and is to be banned from parts of Honiton.

Kruze Howard refused to accept his girlfriend’s decision to jilt him and subjected her to a bombardment of messages, many of them abusive. He turned up at her home and she suspected he was secretly tracking her.

He sent a 14-year-old boy to her house to vandalise her doorbell camera and created social media accounts which he added her to without her permission. She was so frightened that she stopped taking calls and blocked everyone including her family.

She also fled her home because she feared for the safety of herself and a young daughter who Howard fathered during their relationship. She wrote an impact statement saying she never felt safe and never knew if she was being watched.

Howard, aged 34, whose correspondence address is Crimson King, Cranbrook, admitted stalking after the prosecution dropped a more serious charge of stalking involving the fear of violence.

He was jailed for 15 weeks by Judge David Evans at Exeter Crown Court. He made an eight year restraining order banning any further contact with the victim other than through social services, solicitor or the family court for the purposes of child contact.

The order will also include a ban from parts of Honiton but the exact areas will be determined later when a definitive map is agreed.

The judge told Howard he acted out of spite. He said: “It seems you were motivated by a wholly unreasonable and jealous desire to control her and dominate her and to cause her to fear you.

“Your behaviour carried on even after you were arrested and bailed with conditions and even after a domestic violence prevention order was made.

“You bombarded her with messages. It seems you were trying to blackmail her emotionally. You addressed her in the most appalling and demeaning terms. This offending continued over a lengthy period of time. Your behaviour had an effect on her and her family.”

Miss Felicity Payne, prosecuting, said the stalking started when the victim ended her relationship with Howard in November 2023 and continued for more than two months, causing her serious distress. It led to her moving out of her home and trying to block all calls, including from her family.

He insisted they were still together and refused to accept the relationship was over in hundreds of messages which alternated between those expressing love and others making threats or containing insults including ‘rat’, ‘skinny c***’ and ‘scummy mummy’.

He forced her to answer by threatening to throw himself off a bridge unless she took him back. He ignored bail conditions which ordered him to leave her alone after being arrested and contacted her within hours of his release.

Mr Nigel Wraith, defending, said Howard does not accept all the allegations and says there was some contact the other way. He said Howard’s main motivation was a desire to keep in touch with his young daughter. He said a blanket ban on visiting Honiton would be excessive because he sometimes has to go there for his work as a labourer.