Martin Maughan was jailed for 18 months over his campaign of harassment against the victim.

Leeds Crown Court heard Maughan and the woman had been married for seven years and they have two children together.

Louise Pryke, prosecuting, said the relationship ended in December 2018 after he had been abusive towards her for years.

Martin Maughan was jailed for 18 months for harassing his former partner.

Maughan began to harass his former partner on the day he was released from prison on March 24 this year.

The prosecutor said Maughan rang the woman and demanded to see his children.

She told Maughan that he needed to make arrangements through a solicitor.

Maughan continued to ring his former partner through the night, making an estimated 100 calls.

The calls continued the next morning when Maughan threatened to smash her house up and damage the homes of her relatives.

Miss Pryke said: "(The victim) believed he would carry out these threats as he has done so in the past.

"She hung the phone up on him and he continued to call.

"She estimated that he rang 200 times in total over that short period."

The court heard the woman sought a non-molestation against Maughan which was granted by magistrates.

He was banned from contacting her or making threats of violence towards her.

Maughan breached the order on April 5 by making a series of threatening phone calls and leaving voice messages.

In one of the voice messages, Maughan said: "F*** you and f*** your order. I'm going to knock you the f*** out."

Miss Pryke said Maughan also made reference to buying the woman a "big bunch of roses" which she took as a threat that he would kill her or harm her.

Maughan, 30, of Wentbridge Road, Featherstone, pleaded guilty to harassment and two counts of breach of a non-molestation order.

He has previous convictions for robbery, driving offences and breaching court orders.

A victim statement was read to the court on behalf of the woman

She said: "During our relationship Martin would put me down and would tell me I was ugly and that he was too good for me and better than me."

She also described how Maughan would tell her she looked disgusting whenever she came back from the hairdressers.

The statement continued: "When I cooked dinner he would throw it all out and tell me it was disgusting.

"I really started to believe the things he was saying to me and I was feeling so low.

She described how the offending also affected her family members as her mother was also frightened of Maughan.

The statement read: "In the travelling community it is not usual for the woman to work.

"Because of this I did not rely on him as much as he would like.

"He began to assault me and it got worse and worse and I felt that if I didn't escape he would kill me."

She also described how she felt relieved when Maughan was jailed in 2019 but returned to living in fear upon his release from prison in March this year.

She said: "I am genuinely petrified of him."

Tim Jacobs, mitigating, said Maughan carried out the offending in frustration as he wanted to see his children.

Mr Jacobs said Maughan did not intent to act upon the threats he made.

The barrister said: "He accepts he should have gone to a solicitor.

"Instead his temper or frustration got the better of him and he said things which have caused concern and he pestered the complainant over a ridiculous number of phone calls."

Jailing Maughan, Judge Simon Phillips QC said: "Not only did you have a blatant disregard for the court order that was in place, but you took it to a further level.

"The calls contained words which she understood to be threats by you that she would be killed.

"There were references to death.

"That would have, and did have, a terrifying effect on her.

"The impact of the offending against her in a psychological sense is extreme."

West Yorkshire man jailed for harassing his ex-wife with 200 phone calls in a day