Man, 53, stalked woman by sticking posters of her on his van

A man stalked a woman by driving around with posters of her stuck to the outside of his van, a court heard.

Neil Chapple, 53, put four A4-sized pictures of his victim on the back of his bright blue Ford Transit and then drove to the supermarket she was visiting.

Basingstoke Magistrates Court heard over a week in February, Mr Chapple was involved in a series of incidents targeting the woman - who he claimed was his ex-partner - which also included parking outside her home.

The court decided not to proceed with criminal charges against Mr Chapple but he was handed a two-year restraining order, including a ban from mentioning her on Facebook.

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The woman was driving to a Morrisons supermarket with her son on 9 February when she spotted Mr Chapple’s vehicle, the court heard.

Prosecutor Ryan Seneviratne said: "(She) then saw Mr Chapple enter Morrisons and zigzagging between aisles to see what she and her son were doing.

"He says he didn't follow them into Morrisons.

"But he had four A4 posters on the rear of the van - two on each side. For no other reason than to upset her."

The court heard in another incident on 4 February father of three Mr Chapple parked his van opposite where Ms Stokes lives.

Mr Seneviratne added: "The defendant claims he was there to return a call to his boss although no phone call to his boss was made."

He said another incident took place on 7 February, with the woman and her new partner, when Mr Chapple arrived at the Basingstoke road the couple lived on.

Mr Seneviratne said: "He wanted to give [her new partner] evidence that he had been involved in some kind of relationship with her."

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The prosecutor told the court a fourth incident happened on 8 February when kitchen fitter Mr Chapple pulled out behind the couple in his van, although Mr Chapple claimed this was coincidental.

The court heard while Mr Chapple accepted he put pictures of the woman on the back of his van, he denied the other incidents.

District Judge Timothy Pattinson said: "This court considers it necessary to make such an order to protect someone, or in this case two people, from harassment by you."

The restraining order came with four prohibitions.

Mr Chapple is not to contact the woman directly or indirectly unless it’s at a court hearing or tribunal.

There should be no contact whatsoever with her son and new partner.

Mr Chapple is not to display any image or reference in writing to the woman which includes any public place including the internet and social media.

Having been handed the restraining order, Mr Chapple was ordered to immediately remove a Facebook post from the morning of the court case.

He had said "back in Basingstoke for the court case with the crazy one" followed by a winky emoji.