A YORK woman has told of her relief after her “conniving” former boyfriend was told he would go to jail if he tries once more to contact her.

A High Court judge said Andrew Lamptey had been served with an injunction in late 2020 by a family court in York after Stephanie Brodie had sought protection, following the ending of their relationship.

Judge Sharpe said the injunction sought to prevent a number of harms, ranging from physical assault to any form of communication.

He said that almost immediately after the order was confirmed, Lamptey, of St Helens, Merseyside, failed to abide with paragraph 4 which prohibited him from communicating with Stephanie, although to his credit he did not breach other terms.

“Over several months, he sought to try to contact the applicant using a variety of means and different social media forms,” he said.

“It would be wrong to say that the defendant was abusive, insulting or threatening towards the applicant.

“He was simply persistent and, at times, conniving by his use of false identities and unknown phone numbers to attempt to secure his goal of once again being in communication with her.”

He said Lamptey’s actions had “re-traumatised” Stephanie and left her unable to achieve closure on a period of her life.

The judge said Lamptey had failed to attend a number of hearings, causing considerable angst, inconvenience and stress to her, and a warrant was issued for his arrest.

He jailed Lamptey for three months but suspended the sentence until November on condition he complies with the injunction.

Judge Sharpe said: “A sentence of immediate imprisonment would send a message but would do nothing to achieve a settled conclusion of the dealings between the parties.”

He said Stephanie wanted “total disengagement” by Lamptey and a suspension of the sentence was the best way to achieve that aim.

Stephanie, of The Groves, said she was relieved that the suspended jail sentence had been imposed.

“I’m praying that it means he’ll now leave me alone and will never again come near me, although I’m still scared he might turn up one day,” she said.

She claimed she had received a lack of support from police and said she wanted to encourage other victims to fight on in the civil courts if they weren’t getting anywhere with the criminal justice system.