A FORMER councillor who was convicted of breaching a court order has avoided an immediate prison sentence.

Ex-Maldon district councillor Chrisy Morris, 47, had denied breaching two court orders made to protect his alleged victim.

The woman claimed she saw Morris outside her new home the day after she moved to the address in Witham on July 22, 2019.

He was banned from going near her by a non-molestation order imposed in 2018.

Morris claimed he was unaware of the terms of the order despite the court hearing he was present when it was made.

READ MORE: 'One day free in my new life... then he turned up'

Morris admitted to being in the street but claimed he did not know she had just moved there and it was a “complete coincidence” as he was looking for a friend's address nearby.

The jury at Chelmsford Crown Court also heard he went to the woman's address when her and her partner's car windscreens had allegedly been smashed on January 5, 2020.

The defendant denied this offence and claimed he was at Langdon's Mill House Hotel the whole night.

A jury unanimously found Morris guilty of the earlier offence which took place in 2019 but cleared him of the second charge from 2020.

Morris faced Chelmsford Crown Court for sentencing today (February 28).

Ms Taylor told the court the victim lives in dread and had not wanted to move to the new address in 2019 but felt she had no choice.

READ MORE: Councillor Chrisy Morris found guilty of breaching court order

Morris told Judge Timothy Walker: "I'm not the monster that this is trying to make me out to be."

Judge Walker said he was in agreement with the prosecution that the breach of the non-molestation order was deliberate.

He told Morris: "Putting your offending where I do and the distress caused, the matter is plainly so serious that custody is the only option I can adopt."

Mitigating factors noted included Morris' relative lack of previous convictions and lack of recent convictions.

The Heybridge West councillor was handed 8 months imprisonment, suspended for 18 months.

He was also ordered to complete 30 rehabilitation activity requirement days and 200 hours of unpaid work.

A restraining order has been made, in place for five years, to protect the victim.

Maldon District Council has confirmed he is now no longer an elected member with immediate effect.

Richard Holmes, head of paid service at Maldon District Council, said: “Based on the sentence handed down by his Honour Judge Walker at Chelmsford Crown Court today, I can confirm that Chrisy Morris with immediate effect is no longer an elected member of Maldon District Council.

“Section 80 of the Local Government Act 1972 states, 'If a custodial sentence of three months or more is handed down, then the elected member is automatically disqualified'.

“If members of the public need to contact their local Councillor for the Heybridge West ward, please contact Councillor Edwards.

“The council takes this matter very seriously.

"For now, I can say that the council has carried out its own conduct investigations and these have shown Chrisy Morris to be a person who has the capacity to ‘lie, mislead and intimidate’.

"A number of staff and Councillors have been impacted by Chrisy Morris’s conduct and today’s sentencing strip’s him of his ability to continue to behave in this way as an elected representative.”