A “MASTER of disguise” got into bed with his ex-girlfriend uninvited “because he missed her” and threatened to assault her father in a campaign of harassment.

Matthew James Cave, 25, of no fixed abode, entered the home of his ex-girlfriend’s father in Beaconsfield Road, Poole, on numerous occasions, and damaged their security camera.

He pleaded guilty to putting a person in fear of violence by harassment and criminal damage and appeared at Bournemouth Crown Court for sentencing on Monday.

The prosecution’s case, delivered by Tom Wright, was that the couple entered a relationship after the first lockdown but over time the defendant became emotionally and verbally abusive, often accusing her of cheating.

The relationship ended in September 2021 when the victim cut Cave off completely.

He reacted by turning up at her father’s address multiple occasions, putting his head through an open window and muttering he wanted to harm her father.

On October 9, 2021, the victim woke in the early hours of the morning at the sound of her father’s voice.

She found the defendant in bed with her. He had got in through the front door. When challenged he left, leaving the victim very distressed, Mr Wright told the court.

On December 3, 2021, Cave had been “prowling” the area and removed the security camera, causing damage.

When arrested, Cave told police he got into bed with her because he “missed her”.

A statement from the victim read to court said: “Our relationship was good at first, really good, for me anyway. Little did I know that you were just being completely fake. You were a master of disguise, and not in a good way.

“I now realise that I couldn’t help you. Some things and some people just can’t be helped. I have learnt that well.

“I endured roughly two years of your nasty behaviour and ways. Nearly two years of you hurting me emotionally and mentally. You didn’t care about me one bit.

“I want you to feel bad. I want you to think about it all and realise the damage you have caused me.

“You mentally drained me and you as a broken person made me break too. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forgive you and I wish I could take my love and efforts back.

“I feel like I’m grieving for someone I never really knew.”

Mitigating, Lucy Conroy said Cave suffered mental health problems from a young age and had a background of psychosis aggravated by substance misuse.

Judge Stephen Climie sentenced Cave to ten months imprisonment, suspended for two years and ordered him to carry out 40 rehabilitation requirement days.

A restraining order was also put in place preventing him from contacting the victim or her father for ten years.