A “CREEPY” decorator has been jailed for two years and eight months after he harassed a terrified neighbour who was home alone at night.

Karl Nield, 48, of Shrewsbury Way, Saltney, also admitted making sexual comments to three barmaids in two Chester bars while on a “bender” after being sacked from his job.

The offences put him in breach of a five-year Criminal Behaviour Order (CBO) and Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) imposed on him in 2016.

Chester Crown Court heard yesterday that Nield drunkenly knocked on the door of a female neighbour at around 8.30pm on October 20.

She answered and Nield shook her hand, asked her name and qnquired if she had a boyfriend.

“She felt that his behaviour was creepy,” said prosecuting barrister Simon Duncan.

The woman, who had never seen Nield before, managed to get rid of him but within 15 minutes he was back.

“He knocked on the door and rang the doorbell repeatedly over a number of minutes,” Mr Duncan told the court.

“She dialled 101 and he was ringing the bell and knocking on the door as she was on the phone to the police. She was scared.”

Judge Steven Everett, the Recorder of Chester, said the incident of harassment against a vulnerable young woman on her own was very serious.

“She would have been terrified in her home, wondering what this stranger would do,” he said. “It was a frightening incident.”

The court heard that earlier that day Nield had been drinking in a city centre pub and made a lewd and “creepy” comment about a barmaid’s breasts.

And two days later, on October 22, the defendant wandered into another bar in Chester at around 3.30pm and ordered a beer.

He began complaining about the music being too quiet before telling the bar supervisor she was “looking fit today” and “would look fit in a bikini”.

“She felt intimidated and embarrassed,” said Mr Duncan. “He was constantly staring at her up and down.”

Nield then went back to another pub and was told to leave after making a similar remark to another employee.

He was arrested the next day and later pleaded guilty to four breaches of a CBO and four of an SHPO.

The court heard the defendant has 25 previous convictions for 44 offences, including indecent exposure, malicious communications and threatening behaviour.

A pre-sentence report by the Probation Service concluded there was a high risk of him re-offending and committing sexual offences.

Peter Barnett, defending, said a previous psychological report indicated Nield was likely to have Asperger syndrome, a form of autism, which meant he had difficulty dealing with people socially.

“He has never been in a relationship with any woman,” Mr Barnett said. “He finds it difficult to talk to people, to women, and when he’s had a drink he acts like a school child making stupid comments.”

Sentencing, the judge said he accepted Nield had mental health issues but told him they were “not such as to prevent you from understanding what you have done”.

The breaches were so serious that only a sentence of immediate custody was appropriate.

“In my judgement a message has to be sent out to you, and others like you, that this is not just being a pest,” the judge said. “This is serious and nasty behaviour which undoubtedly will have an effect on those women. They deserve to have protection from people like you.”

Judge Everett made Nield the subject of a fresh CBO and SHPO which will last five years.

Before sending the defendant down, he added: “It’s time you stopped. If you don’t stop you will spend the rest of your life in prison.”