A 50-year-old west Suffolk man has admitted stalking and assaulting his ex-wife.

Alan Mizon, of Landseer Court in Haverhill, was before Suffolk Magistrates’ Court in Ipswich on Friday and pleaded guilty to stalking, two counts of assault and one count of threatening violence against the woman he had been married to for 20 years.

The court heard that on October 17 last year and March 29 this year in Haverhill Mizon pursued a course of conduct which amounted to stalking.

The detail of the charge included following her on a number of occasions and loitering where her friends were.

He assaulted her in October and in May he both assaulted and threatened her, breaching a non-molestation order.

However, defence solicitor Jeremy Kendall said Mizon “is clearly a man in crisis, and when people are in crisis they don’t always make sensible or rational decisions”.

He said after the break down of Mizon's marriage he had fallen into a drinking habit but managed to give it up and this showed he was a character capable of climbing out of troughs in his life.

However, he was remanded in custody pending pre-sentence reports and the next hearing will be on June 13 at Suffolk Magistrates’ Court.