(Image: Cleveland Police)
A man is awaiting sentence having admitted breaching a restraining order by meeting an ex-friend he had previously harassed.
Martin Richardson met his former housemate three times in eight days earlier this year.
Richardson, now 34, was jailed for 37 months and given a 10-year restraining order after admitting stalking, perverting the course of justice and sending threatening messages, at Teesside Crown Court in October 2023.
The offences were part of a lengthy campaign of “misinformation and slander” that led to Richardson’s former friend being wrongly arrested more than once, the court heard.
Defendant Martin Richardson facing sentence next month for breaching a restraining order three times in eight days earlier this year
They followed a falling-out with Richardson, who the court heard has a mental health disorder or learning disability.
Richardson, of Fallows Court, Middlesbrough, appeared at Durham Crown Court on Tuesday (September 29), after admitting three breaches of the restraining order.
The meetings took place in Newcastle on March 14 and in Spennymoor on March 17 and 22.
As a result of the breaches, Richardson was recalled to prison and was produced at court for Tuesday’s sentencing hearing.
But the case was adjourned again so psychiatric reports could be completed before he is sentenced.
Judge Nathan Adams remanded Richardson to remain in custody until the new sentencing hearing, on Friday, October 23.