Andrew Leslie Rawlinson has previous convictions for assaulting women – on one occasion punching a woman and on another headbutting a victim.
Last year he was sentenced for common assault and a restraining order was put in place.
The Magistrate’s Court heard this week that in November Rawlinson breached the order by sending the woman a string of ‘menacing’ text messages before turning up at her house.
The Magistrate, Bridget Shaw, described Rawlinson as a ‘dangerous man’ before sentencing him to seven months in prison.
She said: ‘By breaching this order you put this woman in considerable danger. The order is to prevent you doing that and reduce any risk.
‘You have the most shocking record. You are a dangerous man and you have demonstrated that time and time again.’
Police legal adviser Paul Lee said the order was put in place in June after Rawlinson admitted a common assault charge.
The court heard that in the most recent offence the 51-year-old made a number of phone calls and sent text messages to the victim. Later that evening, he arrived at her home and rang the bell. When she went to answer it she saw Rawlinson in the window.
He asked for some tobacco and left soon after. The police were called and he was arrested a short time later.
He told officers he had been to the shop but nowhere else.
Advocate Sarah Dale, defending, said her client had entered a guilty plea and realised the seriousness of the incident.
She added that her client had first been receiving messages from the victim and had resisted the urge to respond.
However, in the end he gave in and that was when the incident occurred.
