AN obsessed stalker has been jailed for driving his ex-partner to the brink of suicide and then sending her details of a funeral plan.

Craig Hocking had already been jailed twice for stalking the terrified young mother but resumed his campaign of harassment within 12 hours of being released from jail.

He infiltrated her social media apps and used them to contact her, he set up an Only Fans account in her name, and ordered a Chinese takeaway meal which turned up at her home in South Devon.

She contacted his mother to beg him to stop and told her that she was so stressed and anxious that she was thinking of taking her own life.

Hocking, who had already been arrested and bailed by police, responded by sending her a message that read: “every soul shall taste death” and arranging for her to receive offers for a funeral plan, a will-writing service and life insurance.

He carried on sending messages on platforms including Snapchat, Facebook, TikTok, and through her PlayStation account until he was finally locked up 17 days after his initial release.

The 28-year-old victim said his stalking had triggered a bout of anxiety which was so severe that she contemplated killing herself and only chose not to so for the sake of her three children.

Hocking, aged 31, of Balland Park, Ashburton, admitted aggravated stalking and two counts of breaking a restraining order and was jailed for two years by Judge David Evans at Exeter Crown Court.

He told him: 'When she contacted your mother and expressed suicidal thoughts, your abusive contact took on a darker side and you began making references to funerals, wills and the like, exacerbating her sense of despair.

'She came to feel that she was the one who was restricted to staying inside her own home, when in reality it was you who should have been constrained by the restraining order.'

The Judge imposed a new ten year restraining order with even tougher conditions which restrict him from travelling to a large area around her home.

Miss Victoria Bastock, prosecuting, said Hocking was jailed for two years and two months for earlier stalking in August last year but released several months early on home detention curfew on December 30, 2022.

He started sending messages as soon as he acquired a new phone. He reactivated her old Facebook account which he had hacked into, and used it to start a bombardment of messages.

She started receiving e-mail notifications of new accounts being opened in her name, including one on Only Fans, a site often used by amateur porn models.

Hocking was arrested by police on January 6 this year but released on bail and resumed his stalking in defiance of strict conditions not to contact her.

Miss Evie Dean, defending, said Hocking has recently been diagnosed as autistic and a psychological report said it made him less able to empathise with his victim or appreciate the harm he was causing.

She said: 'He had difficulties understanding complex emotions arising from the end of this relationship. He is now filled with self-loathing, shame and remorse.'