An online gamer who left his lover so short of cash she needed to use food banks has been kicked back to Scotland.

Gary Gaughan has been ordered not to return to Maidstone and to stay away from his former sweetheart.

The judge also ordered two police officers to escort the 20-year-old Scot to Euston station and put on a Glasgow-bound train where he will be met by probation staff.

Judge Philip Statman warned the jobless Gaughan he faced immediate imprisonment if he bolted on the 372-mile journey.

Gaughan and his lover had met online playing games in 2019 and the victim had travelled to Scotland to meet up - weeks later he "decided to upsticks and come down to Kent" and the two moved in together.

Maidstone Crown Court heard how the "vulnerable" victim handed over her money so Gaughan could buy video games - and then she had to use food banks to eat.

He also controlled her by telling her what she should wear - which often meant donning clothes to cover bruises on her body.

Prosecutor Charles Drinnon said:" He was verbally abusive, shouting, jealous, controlling."

He revealed how Gaughan would also threaten suicide and "had the power to control her physically and mentally."

Gaughan, who admitted assault and controlling behaviour, was also seen bullying his 30-year-old lover and if she spoke in public he would glare at her.

Neighbours also saw the young woman jump out of a window to escape him on one occasion.

She later told police: "This has affected me in quite a lot of ways. I had to stay away from him whenever he got agitated. I felt I was always walking on eggshells.

"It has affected me physically and mentally. When Gary strangled me I felt scared. I tried to get out of the house to get away from him. I was scared about what he would do."

His victim, who has since moved away from the Maidstone home, added: "Sometimes he would get angry at the smallest of things and strangle me. I had no idea how far he was going to take it."

She revealed that for nine months Gaughan didn't receive any state money and depended on her financially.

Gaughan also used his lover's cash to buy video games while, she said: "I had to go to food banks and get food parcels to survive".

The victim added that sometimes she didn't have enough money to pay for electricity.

'I had to go to food banks and get food parcels to survive'

She told the judge in a statement: "It made me feel unclean and embarrassed to see my friends.

"He was happy to live like this but it made me annoyed as I wasn't able to have a bath."

Gaughan - who has been locked up awaiting a hearing for the past eight and a half months - was given a three year community order and ordered to attend 70 days of treatment aimed at rehabilitating him.

He was also ordered not to visit Maidstone or contact the victim.

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