THE former partner of a Prestonpans woman has been jailed after he harassed her and her family in a bid to resume the couple’s relationship.

Aftab Ali made hundreds of phone calls to the woman and many of her friends and work colleagues in a bid to find out where she was living following their break-up.

Ali even targeted the boss of his former partner’s father in a bid to glean information on her whereabouts.

Last week, Edinburgh Sheriff Court was told that Ali, c/o HMP Edinburgh, had made 66 phone calls to the woman from an unknown number.

The woman called the police and Ali was spoken to by officers in connection with his harassment but no further action was taken at that time.

In May, Ali then contacted Mohammed Khan, who was said to be the woman’s father’s employer.

Ali, 39, phoned the man on “several occasions” and attempted to get Mr Khan to contact his former partner on his behalf.

During the many calls, Ali told Mr Khan that he wanted to “resurrect the relationship and to see the children” but the man refused to get involved.

The court was also told that Ali then made his former partner’s grandmother the next target to get closer to her and was said to have made “over 100 calls” to her in a short period of time.

Ali was “verbally abusive” towards the elderly woman and again the calls concerned Ali wanting to “resume the relationship”.

Ali also contacted an uncle of his former partner “over an extended period” from an unknown number but the relative again refused to contact the woman on his behalf. Ali made “four to five calls” a day to the man.

Mr Khan then made the decision to call in the police in June after he was again contacted by Ali.

Ali also admitted to a second offence of acting aggressively, making threats and blocking the path of Nicola Davis, a friend of his former partner, at her home in Edinburgh in April.

Sheriff Michael O’Grady QC heard the Crown narration during last Thursday’s court hearing and gave Ali a two-year prison sentence.

Sheriff O’Grady also made two non-harassment orders in respect of the case and told Ali that he could not contact his former partner for the next 10 years.

Ali has also been told he cannot make contact with one of his children for the next four years.

Ali admitted engaging in a course of behaviour which was abusive of his ex-partner by contacting several people and attempting to discover her address, and uttering threats of violence, making an excessive number of phone calls and placing the woman and her child in a state of fear and alarm at a property in Prestonpans between April 1 and August 6.

He also admitted acting aggressively towards Nicola Davis, repeatedly blocking her path and uttering threats to her at an address in Edinburgh on April 23.