A MAN who bombarded his ex-partner with threatening Facebook messages as he persistently harassed and stalked her has been jailed.

Ainsley Mackay's criminal conduct was revealed at Carlisle Crown Court, where he appeared on his 48th birthday to be sentenced for two offences. Mackay admitted both the stalking and intimidation of his former girlfriend - crimes which were said to have been committed in "two concentrated bursts" earlier this year after the couple's "acrimonious" split.

Mackay first bombarded the woman with 343 Facebook messages, some of which were described as "extremely threatening", and she also spoke of receiving almost two dozen missed phone calls through the same social media application. He then made two direct threats as she became a witness in police proceedings.

In a victim personal statement, the woman later spoke of the incidents worsening her depression and anxiety, and she added: "I don't feel safe in my own home."

Mackay, of High Street, Wigton, was jailed for two years, and banned from contacting the woman through the strict terms of a restraining order for five years.

"You harassed her persistently in these messages. They were relentless and they were appalling in their tone," Judge David Potter told him. "Only an immediate sentence of imprisonment is justified."