A blind man who was handed a suspended sentence and restraining order after subjecting his former girlfriend and a police officer to a tirade of abusive phone calls, has been jailed.

Jason Cocker was handed 68 weeks in prison suspended for 24 months in November 2022 after pleading guilty to theft, possession of a bladed article, stalking, and sending threatening messages.

However, Preston Crown Court heard that after managing to stick to the requirements of his suspended sentence order and comply with the restraining order for more than 12 months, things fell apart for the 31-year-old in December last year.

Prosecuting, Rachel Oakdene told the court that Cocker was contacted by his former partner who had “many questions about what happened in their relationship”, and there were suggestions that they could reconcile, and the restraining order done away with.

That contact lasted around four days before it became clear that the relationship would not be continuing, and the restraining order very much still existed.

Ms Oakdene said that then, in the early hours of New Years’ Day, his former partner turned up at his house, distressed, and feeling sorry for her as it was raining, he gave her a hug, but soon realised he had done the wrong thing.

Despite this, contact between the pair continued, however, Ms Oakdene said it appeared that the complainant, Cocker’s ex-partner, had gone out of her way to initiate the meetings, by turning up at his local pub in Blackburn, and attending an Alan Shearer evening at King George’s Hall in February that he had bought tickets for, after she’d explicitly told Cocker she was not planning to go.

Things came to a head not long after when Cocker phoned his ex-partner nine times over three days between February 12 and February 14.

Ms Oakdene said: “In one of the calls he left a voicemail in which he said, ‘tell the police the truth about when you spoke to me. Tell them the truth that you came to my house, that you came to the concert. You know I am on licence, and you are trying to get me into trouble’.

“His complainant said the relationship had been very emotional for her and she was trying to stop contact with Cocker, but it was hard.

“She said she recognised that she’d attended his home address which put him in breach of his conditions, but she said he should have called the police himself.”

Cocker was arrested on February 20 and remanded into custody.

READ MORE: Blackburn man rang ex 161 times before terrorising cop with 92 calls

In mitigation for Cocker, Graham Rishton said: “He’s the one who is subject to this restraining order and suspended sentence order and he’s the one who has the responsibility to make sure he complies with it.

“These breaches have to be seen in the context of his disability thought, he’s a vulnerable individual.

“He’s now registered blind at the age of 31 and is struggling to come to terms with that.

“This relationship meant a great deal to him while he was losing his sight, and he couldn’t believe that anyone would want to be with him and can’t believe that anyone else would ever want to.

“He put everything into this relationship.

“In speaking of the first breach in December, contact was made with him to try and reconcile. He received reassurances that his restraining order was going to be dispensed with by her but that didn’t happen.

“The initial breach was relatively short lived, and he accepts it was unacceptable on his part.

“The most recent breaches are on an entirely different level; this is contact that’s been initiated by the complainant.

“She turned up at his house on his doorstep, she was in distress, and it was raining outside.

“What he should have done is shut the door in her face as he was subject to an order. He should have called the police.

“We then hear about how she turned up at his local pub. It was his local, his sanctuary, it’s somewhere he goes to and feels safe there. And it’s unfortunate that she’s deliberately gone there.

“Again, he should have reported this to the police, but he didn’t.

“It’s unfortunate that this contact has persisted, and he has been placed in an impossible situation by what’s taken place and now faces staring into an abyss of a custodial sentence.

“In respect of the Alan Shearer concert, she told him she wasn’t going, and he went thinking she wasn’t going to be there, and she was already in her seat.

“In my submission it would be unjust to activate the suspended sentence in this case as firstly, much of this contact has been initiated by the complainant in this case, which is unusual in this type of offending.”

Cocker, of Heatley Close, Blackburn, pleaded guilty to breaching a suspended sentence order and a restraining order and was jailed for 42 weeks.

The five-year restraining order handed to Cocker at his original sentence in November 2022 remains in force.