AN abusive boyfriend broke a Judge’s order to stay away from his ex-partner within hours of it being made by turning up at her home in Crediton.

Michael Ventre, from Chudleigh, was banned from any contact with the woman when he was sent on an anti-domestic violence course in November 2022 - but the pair met up again the next day and carried on communicating for months. 

He has now been handed a suspended jail sentence and warned that he will go to prison if he breaks the order again.

Ventre is the father of the woman’s child and will be allowed access visits to see the three-year-old as long as they are arranged by social workers or through the family court.

The original order was imposed after he tracked the woman down to her new home in Crediton and followed her around the centre of the town before confronting her in a supermarket.

She had moved out of a flat in Exeter to get away from him after he left her covered in bruises after pulling her out of a cupboard where she had tried to hide to escape his jealous rage.

Ventre, aged 33, of Colway Lane, Chudleigh, admitted breaching a restraining order and was jailed for eight months, suspended for two years by Judge Stephen Climie at Exeter Crown Court.

He imposed a two-year restraining order and told him: ‘When a court makes an order saying you can’t speak to somebody, you can’t speak to them.

'If they want to speak to you, you have to contact the police to say they have made contact. That way everyone will accept it is not your fault.’ 

Miss Beth Rickerby, prosecuting, said Ventre broke the previous order within 18 hours by turning up at her home after an exchange of messages. 

She complained later that he had sent her threats and abuse. 

Mr Paul Dentith, defending, said Ventre had pleaded guilty on a basis in which he asserted that his ex-partner initiated the contact because she wanted help dealing with an alcohol issue. 

He said there had been no breaches of the order for more than a year despite a background of social services involvement in the care of the child. 

Ventre is doing well on his existing probation order and acknowledges it helping him.