A man from Chester has been jailed for ten months after physically abusing and harassing his former partner.

Shaun Yardley, of NFA but of Chester, appeared at Warrington Magistrates' Court on on Thursday 17 April.

He was jailed for ten months after pleading guilty to two counts of common assault, assault by beating, the breach of a restraining order and obstructing an officer in execution of their duty.

The 36-year-old had initially been issued with a restraining order against his ex-partner in October 2024 - which remains in place until October 2027.

However, after being released from prison following a breach of this order on Monday 7 April 2025, Yardley immediately began contacting the victim via Snapchat.

He sent her links to music videos he knew she had an emotional connection to in hopes of striking up conversation.

Yardley then obtained the victim's phone number and began calling her and sending multiple text messages.

Three days later, Yardley and the victim would go to Blackpool together for a short break.

On the second day of the trip, Yardley began shouting at her out of the blue and attempted to take her phone from her.

He went on the threaten to hit her with a vodka bottle and her own shoe, before spitting a chewed ice lolly in her face.

Upon returning to Cheshire, Yardley attempted to get into the victims' address with her, but she did not want this to happen and chose to a family member's house instead.

Yardley made 228 calls and sent 137 text messages to the victim - between 10 April and 16 April, one of which involved him angrily calling her to say he could see she was out with a friend and to go home immediately.

Despite telling him to leave her alone, the barrage of calls and texts continued.

The victim contacted Cheshire Police and provided investigating officers with various message screenshots, voice notes and recordings of him turning up at her address uninvited.

This evidence, paired with the victim's statement, helped officers build a case against Yardley.

Upon being approached by officers, he fled on foot and actively evaded police - with additional resources being deployed to locate him. 

Upon being located, Yardley would actively resist officers' attempts to arrest him, putting up a fight for well over two minutes before being detained.

Despite denying the offences, officers were successful in charging Yardley - who would eventually plead guilty to all the charges facing him in court.

A spokesperson from Cheshire Police said: "I welcome this sentenced handed down to Shaun Yardley by the court and I do hope that now the victim can begin to get her life back on course without his malign influence over her.

"With that in mind, I would like to thank the victim in this case for her bravery throughout the entire investigation and subsequent court hearing.

"Her testimonies disclosed to our investigating officers and willingness to come forward were vital in helping us establish a case against Yardley and bringing his reign of terror to a conclusion.

"I would also like to thank the officers from the multiple departments within the Constabulary, including the Response, Area Investigation, Beat, Armed Response, Dogs and Drone teams, for their sterling work in working together to locate and arrest Yardley when he attempted to flea and not face the reality of his crimes."