A TAX office clerk who tormented a female colleague for three months after she refused to go out with him said he was full of remorse for his behaviour.

Bradford Crown Court heard how Waseem Akhtar escaped jail 'by a hair's breadth' after he sent a pornographic magazine and a threatening note to 24-year-old Sarah Benson's home in Yeadon.

He also made silent phone calls to her, sent her flowers and a lottery ticket bearing the message 'Guess Who?' after obtaining her address and telephone number from the computer at work, said prosecutor Jayne Chaplain.

Miss Benson suffered shock and distress, was prescribed medication and had moved to a different address as a result of the offences, Miss Chaplin told the court.

Akhtar pleaded guilty to sending letters with intent to cause distress and sending an obscene packet through the post.

He was given a two-year probation order by Judge Ian Dobkin.

Speaking after the court case, Miss Benson's father Paul said they would have to accept the court's decision.

"We will now have to move on with our lives," he said.

And Akhtar, 28, of Cecil Terrace, Great Horton, who was suspended from his post as a clerical assistant with the Inland Revenue and now faces the sack, said he accepted his actions were unjustified.

"It was out of character and done in the heat of the moment and now I am just relieved it is all over," he said.

The court had heard that Miss Benson's ordeal began last May after she had refused a date with Akhtar.

She later received some flowers and a telephone call from him. Then in July 'suspicious occurrences' began happening to Miss Benson at work, said Miss Chaplain.

Her office chair and some official documents went missing and at first she thought someone was playing a joke on her.

Judge Dobkin said: "What you did was a disgraceful, frightening and worrying course of behaviour."

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