Elderly stalker from Milton Keynes who made female GP's life a 'misery' and is banned from 11 counties admits flouting restraining order

At Cheltenham Magistrates Court last week Raymond Knight, 79, of Williams close, Hanslope, Milton Keynes, pleaded guilty to breaching the order by entering Gloucestershire on 27th May.

He was due to be sentenced for the offence yesterday but sent a message saying he was not fit enough to travel and asking if the case could be dealt with closer to his home.

The magistrates agreed to transfer his case to Northampton Magistrates Court to be heard there on July 3rd.

Lee Mott, defending, said the only reason Knight travelled to Gloucester last week was to see his wife, who has dementia. He did not go to the address of the GP, who alleges her life was made a misery by the years of stalking and harassment she endured from besotted Knight, he said.

Knight had stalked the GP at her surgery in Gloucester and her home for seven years and had been in court numerous times - eventually receiving the then maximum jail term of five years in 2015.

His case prompted national calls for stalking laws to be toughened up and the cause was taken up by MPs who pushed for much longer maximum sentences.

One even submitted a private members bill to Parliament and the maximum term was duly doubled to 10 years as a result.

Knight received the five year jail term in 2015 and has been subject to a tough restraining order since his release.

Last year he applied in vain for it to be lifted.

The order bans him from entering 11 counties in Southern England and Wales where the GP victim has family or connections.

Prior to 2015, Knight had spent seven years stalking the doctor. She had been his GP and be became besotted with her, believing she loved him and that they'd had a relationship.

The case is set to be at Northampton Magistrates Court on July 3rd.