A MAN has been jailed for breaching a restraining order not to approach his former partner – and for trying to persuade her to drop the complaint.

David Harries, 28, of Elm Drive in Mold, was told by a judge "this has to stop" and he was jailed for a total of 15 months.

Mold Crown Court was told Harris had admitted two charges of breaching a restraining order and attempting to pervert the course of justice.

The original order was made in 2016 but over two days in December she received a number of text messages relating to her and to her new partner.

The court heard the defendant's mother rang her to try to persuade her to drop the complaint and the defendant could be heard in the background telling his mother what to say.

Judge Niclas Parry told him it was his ninth and tenth breach of the restraining order in less than two years, adding short custodial sentences had not worked.

"This has to stop. This is an order made to protect a vulnerable woman," he said.

The messages had developed from being angry to being menacing and making reference to violence using a weapon.

Judge Parry said he took into account the defendant's guilty pleas and the unsophisticated nature the offence of intending to pervert the course of justice.

He received five months for intending to pervert justice and a consecutive 10-month sentence for breaching the restraining order.