A JEWEL thief who stalked his ex-lover after being released from prison has been jailed for 22 months.

Kevin Mulheron, 41, kept tabs on the woman, 27, in Glasgow between August and November 2020.

Mulheron was out on licence having been sentenced to seven-and-a-half years for a planned raid of a shop at the Old Course Hotel in St Andrews.

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Mulheron and seven others bought a knife, a cleaver, sledgehammers, holdalls and motorbike helmets to use in the raid, and stole two scooters.

Two of them cased the joint by visiting the hotel.

But, police had been watching them, and armed officers arrested six of the gang near the hotel before they could strike in March 2015.

Mulheron was released in December 2018 and began a relationship with the woman months later.

He was subject to a bail condition in July 2020 not to contact her.

Mulheron ignored the order and sent "hundreds" of texts and WhatsApp messages to her.

His conduct also included contacting the nursery where the woman worked at in August 2020.

Prosecutor Jennifer McKee said: "The call was answered by her manager who was asked 'Is (the woman) there, it's Kevin'.

"In the knowledge of the court's bail conditions, the manager said she was not present and hung up the phone."

The woman told Mulheron to stop contacting her on several occasions.

Further messages accused the woman of being "unfaithful to him."

He also made calls from withheld numbers in which he did not speak when the woman answered.

Mulheron would make at least five calls to the woman if she did not answer.

Miss McKee added: "He also sent music videos [on Facebook messenger] to the woman in order to capture her attention."

Mulheron was arrested in November 2020 for a separate matter.

His lawyer Stephen Dryden told the court: "He recognises his behaviour towards her was unsatisfactory and inappropriate."

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Sheriff Johanna Johnstone QC said that Mulheron had a "dreadful" record of previous convictions.

She said: "You were subject to bail conditions from this court and you chose to ignore these - the court takes a serious view."

A two-year non-harassment order was also granted prohibiting Mulheron's contact with the woman.