Ban for Vanessa stalker

The man who has been stalking violin star Vanessa Mae for ten years walked free from court today after being banned from London.

David Martin, 56, was sentenced to six months in jail for his obsessive pursuit of the multi-millionaire musician but because he has served more than three months while on remand he was immediately released from West London Magistrates Court.

Detectives are convinced the unemployed hospital engineer will ignore the court restraining order because he has done so repeatedly in the past.

District judge Justin Phillips sentenced Martin to six months for his "flagrant breach" of the restraining order on him which banned him from two streets near Miss Mae's home. He extended the order to cover the whole of the capital and told Martin "get out of London".

Outside court Detective Constable David Cahill said: "I've no doubt at all that he will now breach the restraining order."

An indefinite restraining order was imposed on Martin, when he admitted harassment on Christmas Eve but last May he was caught by Miss Mae's boyfriend, Lionel Catalan, 31, near her home.