A YORK man has been jailed again for breaching two restraining orders banning him from contacting his ex-wife.

Stephen Paxton, of Spalding Avenue, Clifton, was jailed for four months at York Crown Court for approaching Alana Philips – formerly Paxton – in the street and trying to speak to her on May 3.

He was also jailed for four months to run concurrently for assaulting Miss Philips’ friend, Cheryl Kirby. Paxton pleaded guilty to both charges.

Bashir Ahmed, prosecuting said Paxton, who was jailed in March for breaching the restraining orders, had repeatedly flouted the restrictions imposed by both the crown and county courts.

He said: “The breaches include continually harassing Mrs Paxton, going round to the house. There was an incident when he followed her to the surgery when she was with her children. It was essentially acts of repeated communication – there were threats over the phone and threats on the answer machine.”

The offence had taken place while the defendant was on licence after being released from jail for the previous breach. But Nick Parker, mitigating, said the latest offence only involved Paxton, 31, approaching his former wife in the street and asking to speak to her.

That led to Cheryl Kirby approaching Paxton and telling him to leave her friend alone. She was then assaulted by the defendant.

Mr Parker said the case was made more difficult because Paxton and his ex-wife had three children together, so there were issues over contact.

Jailing Paxton, Judge Andrew Lees, said: “There is a restraining order in place and you have breached that order. You were sent to custody for six months in March and at the time of this offence the restraining order was still in place and you were also on licence. Bearing in mind that and your record, the only sentence I can impose is custody.”