An "obsessive" ex-boyfriend insisted his former partner keep her phone connected to his at nights so he could monitor who was in her home, a court heard.

As a result of 21-year-old Craig Cherry's unreasonable demand to know who was at the woman's home, her mobile was being used for more than 11,000 minutes in a month, Carlisle Crown Court was told.

Cherry, of Orton Road, Carlisle, yesterday pleaded guilty to a raft of offences linked to his treatment of the mum-of-two.

He admitted breaching a court restraining order designed to stop him contacting her; witness intimidation; damaging a CCTV security camera at the woman's Carlisle home; and also a common assault on the same victim.

The judge agreed an allegation that he engaged in controlling and coercive behaviour towards the same woman – which Cherry denied – should lie on file.

Prosecutor Charles Brown said the defendant was in a relationship with the 27-year-old woman for two years, but there had been issues between them.

"A restraining order was imposed at the end of last year," said Mr Brown.

This forbade Cherry from having any contact whatsoever with the woman. The order was imposed after he was convicted of violence against her.

He was released from jail at the end of 2019 and on February 25 police found him at her address, hiding under a duvet in a bedroom. The woman was too afraid to contact police.

She described how Cherry had seen her in the street and despite her rebuffing him he followed her, threatened her, and then began visiting her home.

When she threatened to report him to the Probation Service, he cut the wires on her CCTV system, saying this meant that she would not be able to prove anything and that there would be nothing police or probation could do.

"She hadn't contacted the authorities for fear that it would make things worse," said Mr Brown.

The prosecutor continued: "She described how the contact became obsessive. Between January 25 and February 25 he insisted that she leave her mobile phone on when she went to sleep at night so that he could listen to confirm there was nobody else in the house.

"She used 11,483 minutes in phone calls with the defendant – a little short of eight days solid – over that one month period."

She said on February 22 he "flipped", punching her in the face, striking the side of her nose, but a friend had intervened. Even after he was remanded in custody, said Mr Brown, Cherry called the woman 80 times from prison.

He also got a female friend to contact her, urging the woman to call him.

Even though he was in prison, she was still scared, said Mr Brown.

Kim Whittlestone, for Cherry, said he suffered from learning difficulties, ADHD, and is on the autistic spectrum. The woman was older than him and Cherry was unable to cope with the demands of family life, said Miss Whittlestone.

"He's acknowledged that things need to change," said the barrister, adding that Cherry had no intention of continuing the relationship.

Jailing Cherry for two years, Recorder Mark Ainsworth said of the relationship: "It was too much for you to grapple with due to your level of immaturity at that time. But that doesn't begin to excuse your conduct towards this lady."

The restraining order remains in place indefinitely.