A Suffolk man who threatened to “break every bone” in his former partner’s face has walked free from court after a judge decided not to send him straight to prison.

Kevin Hill was banned from contacting the woman or going near her Mildenhall home by a restraining order but in November last year she saw him in his car in the exclusion zone “smirking” at her, Ipswich Crown Court heard.

Later the same day she received 11 calls from Hill from a withheld number and two days later he called her again and called her a “stupid bitch” and asked her why she had “grassed him up to the old bill”, said Gareth Hughes, prosecuting.

Three days later he called her again and said: “I’m going to break every bone in your face”, said Mr Hughes.

Hill, 51, of Beaverbrook, Newmarket admitted two breaches of a restraining order and was given a 14 month prison sentence suspended for two years, a six month curfew and a rehabilitation requirement.

Andrew Thompson, for Hill, said his client now recognised the relationship was over.