A MALDON man has been given a restraining order after he admitted stalking a woman in north east London.

Alan Woods, 52, of Lake Mead, was sentenced at Barkingside Magistrates' Court on Tuesday, 8 September to a five-year restraining order against the victim and 200 hours unpaid work after he pleaded guilty to the charge.

The court heard how, between July 2018 and April 2020, Woods embarked on a campaign of harassment against a woman from his workplace in Romford. The victim finally reported the stalking to officers at a north east London police station in October 2019, not knowing who the perpetrator was.

The stalking began in July 2018 with Woods creating a fake account in the victim's name. He then sent social media messages to a colleague's wife, falsely stating that he was having an affair with another colleague.

On Friday, 20 July 2018 Woods contacted the police to inform them that the victim had been driving under the influence of drugs on her way to work. She was drugs tested outside the workplace by officers and the result came back all clear.

Throughout April this year, Woods made multiple unwanted phone calls to the victim, left abusive messages and tampered with her car. It was established the phone number used to send the victim messages was the same as the one used to call police and make the false accusation back in July 2018.

To identify Woods as the perpetrator, officers from the Met's East Area Basic Command Unit analysed phone data from the number he used. The number was linked to Maldon. Further investigations led to a security officer from the workplace stating that Woods lived in the same area as where the phone was linked to.

PC Tay Mirza, said: "Stalking in all its forms greatly impacts victims and this in this case their work life. Hopefully today's result will give the victim some peace of mind.

"Anyone who believes they are a current victim of stalking should contact the police by calling 101 or reporting it online."