A judge has branded a Deeside man “a nasty piece of work” after a court heard how his harassment of a woman culminated in him creating a false Facebook profile of his victim.

The woman was shocked to find a profile using her identity complete with a picture of her home and the registration number of her car on it.

And she was horrified when sexually explicit and lewd posts appeared which to the public looked as if they had come from her.

Mold Crown Court was told that bizarrely since then there had been incidents where her vehicle had been smeared with slices of ham.

Judge Rhys Rowlands told Timothy Gerald Henson, 49, of Butler Street, Shotton, who entered the dock using two sticks, that he richly deserved to go to prison.

But his sentence was suspended because he had day-to-day care of his housebound wife, aged 68, who suffered serious ill-health.

Henson initially denied being involved but police found he posted on a false profile from Connah’s Quay Library, barrister Brett Williamson, prosecuting, said.

He admitted harassment, causing the woman alarm and distress by making unwelcome approaches to her at her place of work and in the street, giving her unwanted gifts, being outside her home and staring through her windows and sending her unwanted Facebook messages.

Henson admitted creating a false Facebook account in her name and posting personal details including her address and vehicle registration number, together with offensive comments.

He also admitted that he sent a Facebook message to another woman from the false Facebook page for the purpose of causing needless distress and anxiety.

Judge Rowlands said Henson had “set out to make life a misery” for his first victim.

His behaviour was worrying and deeply upsetting which continued even after he received a police warning notice.

Over a period of three years he harassed her and showed a degree of sophistication in doing so by using social media.

The judge said Henson's behaviour was “all pretty appalling.”

He said her life had been made a misery and she had to leave her first place of employment because of him.

Two women had been affected by his behaviour and in the case of the second it was based on his hostility to her presumed sexual orientation.

Judge Rowlands told Henson: “From what I have read about you I take the view you are a pretty inadequate individual trying to throw your weight about with younger women and no doubt getting some satisfaction out of trying to unsettle your victims.

“Such behaviour will not be tolerated by the courts.

“You are, for all your problems, a pretty nasty piece of work who richly deserves to go to prison.”

The main reason for suspending the sentence was the effect upon his ill wife.

He also took into account his previous good character.

Henson received a 21 month prison sentence suspended for two years with 50 days rehabilitation and an eight month tagged curfew under which he must remain indoors between 8pm and 7am.

A 10-year restraining order was made not to approach the victims in any way and he is not to post anything about them on the internet.

Mr Williamson said the first victim, a woman in her 40s, was pestered by him and a police warning worked for a while but then he resumed.

His behaviour scared her and when she once tackled him about it he apologised and said it would stop.

But it escalated, he would approach her up to 20 times a day, would be outside her home, would see her in the street and repeatedly attended her place of work.

She ignored Facebook messages and deleted her profile but she was shocked to see a new profile in her name had been created with photographs of her home and the registration number of her car.

Lewd comments were made and there was a message – purporting to be from her but written by Henson – about another woman commenting on her sexual orientation.

That woman went around to the victim’s home to challenge her but fortunately she was not in at the time.

Police found the entries had been made from the library using Henson’s account but he continued to deny it even when CCTV evidence showed him at the computer at the time the entries were made.

In a victim impact statement the woman told how it had a major effect on her life. She had lost weight, no longer felt safe going out and felt that she was constantly being watched.

Barrister Myles Wilson, defending, said Henson suffered ill-health but his main concern was for his housebound wife who was seriously ill and who relied on him for her day-to-day care.

“He knows if he avoids prison it will be by the skin of his teeth,” Mr Wilson said.