A MAN who “ran a vendetta for six years” against his former partner has been jailed for 16 months.

Gordon Raymond Bell’s behaviour meant he had “forfeited the right to use social media” in the normal way, York Crown Court heard.

In March a York jury heard how Bell, 42, repeatedly breached a restraining order imposed to protect the woman by posting comments and photos related to her on social media and internet websites, including The Press’s.

Nick Adlington, prosecuting, said Bell committed the offences within months of him losing his appeal against a conviction of stalking the woman.

In a victim personal statement, Bell’s former partner said: “He has run a vendetta against me for six years. Even after being found guilty he didn’t stop his behaviour.”

Jailing him for 16 months, Judge Andrew Stubbs QC said some flaw in Bell’s character led to the offences. “I cannot understand this singular inability to cope with the break up of your relationship,” he said. “You have made her life a misery.”

The judge made a new more tightly defined restraining order to last indefinitely. It bans Bell from contacting the woman or going near her home village and restricts Bell’s use of the internet and social media.

“He has forfeited the right to use social media as anyone else does,” said the judge. “He has proved repeatedly he is incapable of using it responsibly. He has shown he will try to wriggle through any loophole available to him and argue the toss on any word used in an order.”

Bell, who claims to live mostly in Lanzarote, in the Canary Islands, but who has an address off Nunnery Lane, York, denied four charges of breaching the restraining order, but was convicted by the jury in March.

For him, Thomas Stanway said jailing him would probably mean the collapse of a cycling magazine he was starting.

There had been no further offences since the four breaches committed in 2016.

The sentence was 12 months for the four offences, plus four months previously suspended for the stalking offence.

  • The headline on this article had been changed from ‘Gordon Bell jailed for six-year “vendetta” against ex-partner’ to ‘Man jailed for breaching restraining order.’ Mr Bell was jailed after four breaches of a restraining order, plus four months previously suspended for a stalking offence. This story had previously reported that Gordon Raymond Bell was convicted of stalking a man and a woman. While one of the charges did involve two people, Bell was only convicted of stalking one person.