Husband jailed

Ronald Benjamin, 56, was slapped with the indefinite order by Hastings magistrates three years ago. But Lewes Crown Court heard how he called Bernadette Benjamin while shewas at work in May this year, saying: "Remember me?"

A month later he again called her while she was at work and became threatening when she refused his request to meet him, the court wastold. Benjamin was arrested when he voluntarily handed himself into Hastings Police Station in July. Prosecutor Bridget Norfolk told Judge Richard Brown the restraining order was imposed by the town's magistrates in February, 2003.

She said: "On May 9, 2006 the complainant was at work when she received a telephone call from the defendant. "She heard someone laughing on the other end of the phone and the defendant then said, 'Remember me?' "The complainant was shocked and the defendant then tried to engage her in conversation.

"He asked if she was still living at her address and said, 'Nice place you live in, nice car'.

"She said she had nothing to say to him and put the phone down. She was extremely shocked by this phone call and contacted the police about an hour later."

Miss Norfolk told how Benjamin then asked her if she would meet him during a phone call while she was at work on June 2. "She said he should leave things in the past and she didn't want any contact with him."The defendant then said that the complainant should take him seriously because he was going to buy a flat where she lived. "He became threatening and said he would cause her some embarrassment and ended the phone call by saying she better think seriously about whathe had said and that he would call her again." Benjamin, of Penenden Heath, Gladstone Road, Penenden, Kent, pleaded guilty to breaching a restraining order.

The court heard that he has a previous conviction for assault on hisex-wife when he held a knife to her during an incident in Battle in November, 2001. In interview he told police he met a colleague of his ex wife in the street and discovered that she had been unwell. He maintained that he had called her because he was concerned about herbut accepted it was "a stupid thing to do".

He added that he had forgotten the implications of the restraining orderand would not contact her again. In a Victim Impact Statement, Benjamin's ex-wife said: "Once again hehas encroached in my life. "It has made feel very nervous that he may actually turn up.

It's the uncertainty I don't like. "I thought this was all over after appearing in court last time and him getting the order. I don't want to have to go through that again." She added that she was "absolutely terrified" and worried about walkingdown the street and having to look over her shoulder. Rossano Scamardella, defending Benjamin, told the court: "He is happilyre-married and has kept his distance from his ex-wife. "He accepts that any contact with her is unacceptable and has deleted all contact numbers for her from his mobile. "He is absolutely insistent that he will now keep his distance even further and will do his best to avoid any chance meetings."

Jailing him, Judge Brown told Benjamin: "You have caused fear and anxiety to the lady in question and even a restraining order has not persuaded you to leave her alone."