A father banned from seeing his children has been prosecuted for asking a teacher to give one of them a teddy bear inscribed with the words: “I love you.”

The man, in his thirties, wept as Carlisle Crown Court heard he had not seen his two children for more than a year when he visited a leisure club in the city and saw one of them by chance.

She was with her classmates having a sports lesson and, on that occasion, all he did was wave to her.

When he saw the daughter there again two weeks later, the man approached a teacher and asked her to give his child the teddy bear.

However, that put him in breach of a restraining order imposed by a family court which meant he could only contact the girl through his solicitor or at a contact centre.

In court, the man admitted breaching the order on November 23 last year.

His barrister Keith Thomas said the order was imposed in June 2014 after the defendant was convicted of affray and battery. The breach resulted from a chance encounter, he said.

“The defendant lost his children in September 2015,” said Mr Thomas.

“At the hearing, he was granted contact on the basis that he could meet the two children once every two months and communicate with them once every two weeks by postcard.

“But in effect, he’s never been able to see them; indeed I’ve seen on his mobile phone communication from the agency saying they’re overworked and under-staffed and there’s no way he can go on the list with regard to contact.

“He hasn’t seen his children since September 2015.”

A “hard-working man”, the defendant had used the leisure facility involved since 2005.

When he saw the child the second time, again with her class, he asked the teacher to give the child the teddy bear. His manner was non-threatening, the court heard.

Mr Thomas said: “The teddy bear was three or four inches tall and on the front of it were the words: ‘I love you’.

“He asked her [the teacher] to pass over the teddy bear with the message so his daughter realises he is still thinking about her and caring for her. He didn’t appreciate doing that constituted indirect contact.”

The original offence after which the order was made was committed when the defendant was suicidal.

Judge Tony Lancaster imposed a six-month conditional discharge, commenting: “I can understand why a father in your position, who hadn’t seen his daughter for several months, would do that.”