'Lurking' stalker told woman he wanted to marry her during first date, Leeds Crown Court told

Morris stalked the woman for eight months. (library pic)

Michael Morris sent 60 texts to the scared female in the space of a night and told her had booked a table at a restaurant for them, despite being warned by police to stay away.

The 36-year-old was arrested in May and has been held on remand at HMP Leeds since.

Appearing at Leeds Crown Court this week via video link, he admitted a charge of stalking.

Judge Penelope Belcher jailed him for 27 weeks and gave him a two-year restraining order.

She said: “The context was not threatening, but it left her on edge and scared.

"He had a serious effect on her day-to-day activities. She describes being anxious.

"It was unwanted and persistent and over a prolonged period of eight months.”

Prosecuting the case, David Hall said Morris, of Fieldfare Drive, Allerton Bywater, and the woman began dating in June 2021.

He told he wanted to marry her on their first date, which she thought was bizarre, and he then asked her for £1,000 for a holiday during their second date, which she refused.

Mr Hall said the woman described him as being “scary, obsessive and unpredictable”.

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She ended the relationship in September, and she contacted the police so he could be “warned off”.

But by November, Mr Hall said Morris was calling her regularly from two different numbers, was “lurking” around her workplace and sending her flowers.

On January 4 she woke to find she 60 texts from Morris, and that he had booked the table.

Mr Hall conceded that the messages were more a nuisance than threatening, describing them as “nagging and whinging, mixed with everlasting love”.

Mitigating, Edison Flint said Morris was desperate to be released so he could “get back to work as soon as possible”.

He added: “He knows what he did was wrong.

"He was misguided in his belief that he could be with her again.

"He was clearly trying to rekindle the relationship, he knows it’s over.”

Having been on remand for four months, Morris was told it is likely he would be released immediately.