A STALKER sent his ex hundreds of emails in one day as well as a £100 bank transfer bearing the message ‘I love you’ in a desperate bid to rekindle their relationship.

Neil Middleton also sent his former girlfriend flowers, chocolates and wine and turned up at her home in Orford uninvited during a two-month campaign of harassment.

Warrington Magistrates Court heard on Wednesday, October 13, that they first became a couple in August last year after meeting online via Facebook.

But the defendant was ‘possessive’, and she ended their partnership following the death of her dad.

The pair briefly resumed their relationship in April this year, but this broke down again the following month due to the 37-year-old acting ‘aggressively’.

Middleton attended her house in the following days and apologised for his behaviour.

However, she began receiving ‘constant’ emails from the primary school account manager – including 250 in one day on one occasion, many of which were ‘abusive’.

In these emails, he called her a ‘pathetic piece of s***’ and an ‘ugly little c***’ – although others ‘expressed his feelings for her’.

The victim contacted the police, after which Middleton was ‘advised not to make further contact’.

Less than a week later though, the emails resumed and he was warned about his behaviour by officers again.

After six days, the messages continued and the dad began sending ‘gifts’ – including two bouquets of flowers, a box of chocolate and a bottle of wine.

Middleton also made two bank transfers to the value of £1 and £100, with the message ‘love you’ attached to both.

He later approached her as she was putting the bins out, as well as bombarding her with a number of phone calls and leaving voicemails.

In a statement read out to the court, the victim said: “I’m successfully moving on with my life now, but I would never like to be in this situation again.”

Middleton – who has no previous convictions – represented himself in court, stating that he could not afford to hire a solicitor.

He told magistrates: “I’d just like to apologise to her.

“This is a shock for me – I’ve never been involved with anything like this before.

“I did react horribly wrong, which I deeply regret.

“While I accept I’ve done wrong, I will learn from this and I’d ask the court to be as lenient as possible.”

Middleton, of Houghton Street in Widnes, admitted stalking and two counts of sending an offensive message during an earlier hearing and was handed a 17-week imprisonment suspended for two years.

Sentencing, magistrates panel chairman Brian Gallagher said: “Your behaviour was totally disgraceful.

“Courts quite rightly look seriously upon offences against women.

“We believe this does pass the custody threshold and the sentence is going to reflect that.

“The reasons for suspended custody are the seriousness of the offence, that you were persistent in your assault and the effect it had on a vulnerable victim.

“You’re leaving court here today – don’t breach any of these orders because the outcome will be grim.

“Make sure you don’t make a nuisance of yourself.”

Middleton was also handed a 33-day rehabilitation activity requirement and a restraining order preventing him from contacting the victim for the next two years, as well as being told to pay court costs of £85 and a victim surcharge.