A STALKER warned his ex-girlfriend she better move out of Wales if she ever went to the police about him constantly hounding her.

Rowan Howells, 37, threatened to plant drugs in her car, followed her and bombarded her with phone calls after their 18-month relationship ended.

Paul Hewitt, prosecuting, said the victim has nightmares about the defendant kidnapping her.

Howells, from Tredegar, started harassing the woman in her 20s after she broke off their romance on New Year’s Eve 2020.

Newport Crown Court heard how the defendant started accusing his former girlfriend of being unfaithful to him and of having one-night stands.

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Mr Hewitt said: “He didn’t, it seems, accept the break up and he would try and contact her and would follow her.

“She told him categorically she didn’t want any more contact, she tried to block him on her mobile phone and wanted nothing more to do with him.

I had to leave a job I loved

“On May 6, 2021, he pulled up in front of her on a bypass, this caused her to have to stop her vehicle and other vehicles to brake as well.

“He got out of his car and threw in through her window a teddy bear. She didn’t keep the teddy bear, she threw it away.

“The next day he again pulled her over in his car and started arguing with her.”

He continued to follow her and told her in a “menacing and threatening way” at a garage to watch out after beeping his horn and flashing his lights.

A few days later, Mr Hewitt continued, he said to her: “You will regret it if you turn my love to hate.”

The prosecutor added: “He made threats towards her.

“The defendant threatened to leave drugs in the car so she would be arrested.

“He said, ‘If you send me to prison, you had better move out of Wales.’”

One day, he called her mobile phone 100 times.

In a victim impact statement, the woman said: “I was having flowers delivered to work and he would ring my works phone several times whilst he was in hospital.

“I felt I had no choice but to leave a job that I loved and seek employment elsewhere.

“I have nightmares. Sometimes these nightmares are of him kidnapping me and I wake up crying.”

She told the court she didn’t think sending him to prison would help but be a “step backwards”.

Howells, of Scwrfa Road, Scwrfa, Tredegar, pleaded guilty to stalking.

The offence was committed between April and June last year.

The court heard how Howells was jailed in 2014 for conspiracy to supply class A drugs and locked up for 20 months in 2017 for conspiracy to supply class B drugs.

William Bebb, mitigating, said: “His life has changed drastically since the commission of this offence.

“He is genuinely remorseful and bitterly regrets it.”

His barrister said his client suffered a heart attack last year and still struggles with the after effects of a cardiac arrest.

Mr Bebb added: “He would be extremely vulnerable in a custodial setting.”

The judge, Recorder Dyfed Llion Thomas, said: “Your behaviour towards the victim was atrocious.

“She describes living in fear.

“This was cruel behaviour once she ended the relationship.

“The threats you made were very nasty threats.”

He added: “You had better get it into your head that the relationship is over.”

Howells was jailed for eight months, suspended for two years.

He must complete an eight-day rehabilitation activity requirement.

The defendant was made the subject of a five-year restraining order not to contact his victim.