A DISTRICT judge has approved a domestic violence protection order which bans a Carlisle man from contacting a relative.

Paul Keith Little, 42, must now stay away from the man named in the order until July 31, magistrates at the city’s Rickergate court have ruled. Little must also pay the £300 costs of the Cumbria Police application.

The order was imposed after magistrates found that, on the balance of probabilities, the protected person had been subjected to violence or the threat of violence from Little.

His address was given in court as being Valley Drive, Carlisle. Though the order is civil in nature, any breach of it would be a criminal offence.  The defendant was present in court for the hearing.

The duration of the order was set as 28 days.