A creepy man stalked his new neighbour for months when he would peer through her windows and try her door handle.
Kirk Hodon, 43, met the woman while she was having her carpets fitted and then watched her for months.
His stalking became an almost daily occurrence when he would follow her, bang on her window and try to get into her home.
Hodon met the woman last March and asked her for a cigarette but he later started turning up at her house regularly.
He admitted stalking a person causing them harm and distress at Hull Crown Court, reports Hull Live.
The court heard how the woman had moved into her home in east Hull after an incident with an ex-partner made her feel unsafe.
In a statement read to the court, she said: “I moved to my current address for my safety due to my previous relationship. But I feel stressed and no longer feel safe in my own home.
"I feel afraid when someone knocks on the door, I’ve asked my friends to text and call me before they come for that reason.”
The woman also told how she has incurred extra costs from fitting additional locks on her door.
After her first meeting with Hodon, he would frequently go to her address and try her door handle. When she would leave her house to go to the shops, he would follow her.
Prosecutor Julian Goode said Hodon also invited the woman to his for drinks and would often look through her windows at her. He also left broken glass outside her house.
Last June, the woman heard banging on her door. She texted a neighbour to check who it was and discovered it was Hodon.
When the neighbour asked Hodon what he was doing, he said he had lost his keys. The neighbour said he was clearly intoxicated. The police were called and Hodon was arrested.
The court heard Hodon has nine previous convictions for 26 offences.
Rachel Scott, defending, said Hodon had been suffering from significant mental health issues during this period, and remembers very little of what happened.
He was going through a manic episode after a close friend had died.
Hodon had been detained in custody since his arrest and had since responded well to medication he was diagnosed by professionals for his mood instability.
Judge Mark Bury told Hodon due to his "creepy behaviour’" the victim had suffered from great stress.
He said he accepts that Hodon’s mental health had deteriorated when the offence took place, but has since improved during his time in prison.
Hodon was sentenced to nine months in prison which he has already served, and imposed a five year restraining order preventing him from going near the victim or visiting the street where she lived, with the exception of returning to collect his belongings after his release from prison.
