A Wishaw woman twice tried to kill herself after being hounded by her former partner.
Ian Hobson’s “campaign of intimidation” included torching a car and threatening to disclose intimate photos of his ex.
Evil bully Hobson, 34, of Crookston, Glasgow, was handed a two-and-a-half-year sentence at Hamilton Sheriff Court this week.
He admitted a course of conduct that caused his ex fear or alarm in May last year.
This included damaging windows at a house in Craigneuk, and threatening the woman, her new partner and members of her family.
Hobson also admitted threatening to disclose intimate images, breaching bail conditions and wilfully setting fire to a car.
The vehicle was destroyed in the blaze.
Hobson had denied the charges and changed his pleas to guilty only after the woman gave evidence during a trial last month.
Defence agent Harvey Diamond said his client, who had refused to be considered for a domestic abuse programme, disagreed with an assessment that put him at a high risk of re-offending.
The lawyer stated: “He is not a regular offender. He says he will not drink any more when he gets out of prison.”
But Sheriff Colin Dunipace pointed out that Hobson had hounded his ex while out on licence after being jailed for stalking another woman in Glasgow.
Passing sentence, the sheriff told him: “In this case your persistent, threatening behaviour involved not only the woman but her current partner, mother and child.
“Those threats caused immeasurable distress and induced such terror and trauma in your ex-partner that she attempted suicide.
“She could not escape from you and the impact on her mental health was such that she tried a second time to commit suicide and was again hospitalised.”
The sheriff described the evidence he’d heard as “heartbreaking and harrowing”.
He added: “You then wilfully set fire to her partner’s car during this campaign of intimidation.
“Leaving aside the cost of damage, I must take account of the potential danger to people and property when this happens in close proximity to a house.”
As well as jailing Hobson, Sheriff Dunipace imposed a non-harassment order, banning him from contact with his ex for 10 years.
He told the accused: “She requires protection from you for a protracted period.”
NHOs ranging from one year to three years were imposed in respect of members of the victim’s family.
The jail sentence was backdated to January 26 as Hobson has been in custody since then.
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