A MAN harassed his own mother then launched a campaign of intimidation against his probation officer - leaving her fearing for her safety.

Samuel Hayes pursued Grace Mason in a campaign of repeated telephone calls and attempted to track down her social media and home addresses, a court was told.

It culminated in an outburst of vile abuse and a two-hour stand-off at her Hampshire offices where he tried to take photographs of her car.

Convicting him of harassment, judge Anthony Calloway branded him as “arrogant” and “disgusting”.

Hayes, 20, of Linden Gate, Pennington, Lymington, had denied the charge of harassment without violence, forcing a trial where his victim described living in fear.

Southampton Magistrates Court heard how Hayes was required to attend a three-year programme with the Probation Service in June last year after being convicted for harassing his own mother.

Ms Mason told the court how Hayes initially appeared willing to cooperate but his behaviour changed during a period between July and September last year.

She said that during an appointment at her Lymington office in July last year he confronted her about alleged “racist comments” he saw on a social media profile he believed belonged to her, adding “I found you on Facebook”.

He claimed to have tracked down her home address telling her “in case I need to deal with anything”, she told the court.

The court heard how he telephoned her work mobile at least five times a week for reasons mainly unrelated to his case and switched to a withheld number when he was told to stop.

Hayes also made a lurid comment to Ms Mason after she ended one of their appointments before refusing to leave the office for over two hours before police removed him from outside the premises where he was seen taking photos of staff vehicles in the car park.

She told the court how he called her at her Totton office using a fake name of “Dave” and on one occasion was seen staring up at the windows towards her desk at the Lymington office.

She told the court he was eventually transferred to another case worker but she was forced to avoid working at certain offices. The former prison probation officer added: “I’ve been left feeling incredibly vulnerable. I felt my personal safety was in jeopardy. I didn’t take time off work, but I didn’t feel safe at home.”

When asked under cross examination why she had not transferred to another case worker earlier or reported his actions as a breach of his order she said he had later appeared “willing” to gain support from probation.

She said she did not agree that his behaviour was down to learning difficulties as he had vehemently denied suffering learning problems in the past.

Service cases manager Jacqueline Markey told the court she had warned Hayes about his behaviour and added that Ms Mason was “upset” and “shaken” by the incidents.

Taking to the dock, Hayes claimed he often tracked down probation officers and other professionals on Facebook to find out about them due to insecurities stemming from a troubled childhood which involved being taken into care, adding: “I struggle with changes and I need to know about it”.

But he denied knowing her home address, calling with a fake name and staring at her offices.

He added that he had regularly called and refused to leave the office because he wanted to know when his appointments were, adding: “I’m not setting out to be disruptive. I struggle with a lot of things.”

But sentencing him to a two year conditional discharge, District Judge Anthony Calloway said: “You are an arrogant young man and you think an awful lot of yourself. Your conduct was quite disgusting.

“If you get into trouble in the next two years you could be re-sentenced.”

Hayes is also subjected to a restraining order and ordered to pay £400 costs.