THE former partner of a woman, furious at not being allowed to see his children, phoned her 55 times in one day, demanding to speak to her, a court heard.

Darryl Richards then followed her in his car, driving very close to the rear and at one point trying to force her off the road.

He also said he would make sure she lost her job and was seen outside her house spying on her with binoculars and then hiding behind a tree.

Even after a previous court appearance where a restraining order was imposed he almost immediately went out and breached the order, a court heard.

Darryl Richards, aged 37, of Rochdale Old Road, Bury, appeared at Bolton Crown Court for sentence yesterday.

He had previously admitted two charges of harassing his former partner Kerry Dixon in May last year.

Recorder Richard Marks, QC, said Miss Dixon must have been terrified but that a report had shown that Richards did not seem to appreciate the fear he had caused to his former partner.

He jailed him for a total of three months and imposed a 12 month restraining order on him.

The court heard that Richards had been in a relationship with Miss Dixon for six years but it broke down in March last year.

It had been a volatile relationship and Richards did not seem able to perceive it had ended and he also had problems of access to his children.

On May 19 he phoned Miss Dixon up to 55 times and when she was taking the children to school Richards followed her. The court was told that Richards had gone off the rails for a short period of time. He was in a highly charged emotional state because he had been cut-off from seeing his children.