A former senior nurse waged a four-month vendetta against a man which included a "malicious" outing of his sexuality on social media.

Peter Orsman, who was once employed by the East Kent Hospitals Trust, posted a collage of photos of the victim on Instagram branding him a liar.

The 53-year-old also set up a fake profile on the Grindr dating app, put a tracking device on the victim's car, forged hospital appointment letters "to waste his time" and destroyed his lawn with vinegar.

Canterbury Crown Court heard Orsman even vowed he would not give up his campaign until the man had "suffered enough and I have a smile on my face".

He first began to target the victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, in February last year, sending him multiple texts and emails containing "abusive and derogatory" language, said prosecutor Nasreen Shah.

In one message he told the man he had also followed him on three or four occasions.

Orsman, who was living in Ashford at the time, then set up the Instagram account on which he shared the man's personal information.

"Multiple comments were left on the post and they were designed to out the victim," Ms Shah told the court.

"He also wrote to his place of work in an effort to undermine him and sent him false appointments by creating fake NHS letters to waste his time.

"The defendant's conduct was intended to maximise distress. There was a significant degree of planning, it was carried out over a period of four months and it was persistent in nature."

Orsman, now of no fixed address, was arrested and later pleaded guilty to stalking involving serious alarm or distress.

The court heard he has no previous convictions but received a caution in 2021 for possessing a Class A drug and lost his job in the NHS as a result.

John FitzGerald, defending, said Orsman then found work in the private sector but, following his conviction, the nursing career he had held since he was 18 had now ended.

He told the court the stalking was committed at a time when the former healthcare professional was feeling "devastated and tormented".

But the lawyer added that Orsman had since been "a victim of quite a lot of natural justice", having lost both his employment and his accommodation.

Jailing Orsman for 10 months, Recorder Daniel Stevenson told him that he was "very much the author" of his own misfortune.

Describing the outing of the victim's sexual orientation as being a "particularly malicious" aspect of his criminal behaviour, the judge added: "He is quite understandably concerned that you will never leave him alone.

"Your conduct was persistent, committed over a long period and multi-faceted."

Despite being handed a prison sentence, Orsman was immediately released from custody due to time already served on remand.

He was also given a five-year restraining order banning any contact with the victim, attending his home address and workplace, and posting about him on social media.