A RESTRAINING order has been issued against a man who glued the lock on the front door of his ex-partner’s home.

Kevin Daykin, aged 52, claimed he was merely visiting the Chalford home of Jacqui Isaacs on December 23 last year to wish her a happy Christmas.

But Cheltenham magistrates heard last Tuesday, August 19, that CCTV footage of his visit, recorded while Ms Isaacs was not at home, showed that Daykin had tampered with the front door.

Paul Ricketts, prosecuting, said Daykin had admitted visiting the house when he was questioned at Stroud police station in January but had “hotly denied” sabotaging the Yale lock of the door by injecting it with Super Glue.

Ms Isaacs told the court that she had met Daykin, of Frome, Somerset, online in September 2012 and that they had dated until the relationship ended last year.

Subsequent incidents at the home caused her to fear Daykin was harassing her, she claimed, leadingwhich led her to have the CCTV installed.

On the day in question, Ms Isaacs told the court she had been out all afternoon and returned at 9.45pm.

“I tried to put my key in the lock and it wouldn’t go in. When I shone the torch from my mobile on the lock I could see it was impregnated with glue,” she said.

Isaacs got in through another door and called police, who then viewed the CCTV footage showing Daykin’s visit.

In cross-examination by defence solicitor Charles Cronin, Ms Isaacs conceded that a blind spot in the camera’s coverage could make it possible for someone else to visit the property and escape being filmed.

Under oath, Daykin, who works as a process engineer for a firm in Cirencester, told the court: “It was a spur-of-the-moment thing to see her and wish her a merry Christmas”, adding that he had waited at the door for a prolonged time merely to be sure she wasn’t in.

Chairman of the bench Chris Summers said the evidence proved beyond reasonable doubt that he had damaged the lock.

Daykin was fined £480 and ordered to pay £320 costs, plus a £48 victim surcharge and £70 compensation for repairs.

After hearing that Daykin had two previous convictions for harassment in 2008, a restraining order was imposed forbidding him from going near Ms Isaac’s home or making contact with her.