The terrified ex-girlfriend of a stalker who lay in wait before pouncing and attacking her repeatedly has been forced to flee Kent.

Aiden Hubbard-Stewart has been jailed for four years after continuously destroying the lives of the young woman and her family.

The 21-year-old hunted his victim in Canterbury at night, hiding behind bins, in alleys, and smashing her nose in five places while laughing.

He was released from a 33-month spell in custody earlier this year with a non-molestation order, after burgling his victim’s family.

But he stalked the girl from Cousins Lounge in Lower Bridge Street to Canterbury East train station and then “punched her straight out of the blue”, prosecutors explained.

Hubbard-Stewart made off with her possessions, using her mobile to phone her grandmother three times, and repeatedly banged on her door in Salisbury Road.

He went on to call his victim another 16 times, trying to persuade her to drop charges, before springing on her again in the same street, breaking her nose and making threats to kill.

“The defendant came up behind her. He punched her hard in the face, the force from the blow knocking her down,” prosecutor Paul Valder explained.

“She was bleeding heavily from the nose and a front tooth was hanging off.”

The girl was treated at Ashford’s William Harvey Hospital, where she received four stitches. It took six attempts to reset her nose.

Now, she and her family have been relocated from Kent to escape Hubbard-Stewart, Mr Valder added.

But the attacks have left her wrought with fear, believing Hubbard Stewart wants her disfigured.

Speaking after the first attack, she said: “The trauma caused by Aiden has been relentless.

“I’m physically shaken up by the incident and only came to the town centre for a well-earned night out with my friends.

“I will now be in a constant state of fear. I feel vulnerable and concerned for my family. It is clear he has no regard for me and he just wants to make my life a misery.”

After the second attack, she told officers: “Aiden makes me terrified. I don’t want to leave the house.

“I’m constantly on edge and always anxious. I’m planning on moving out of Canterbury. I can’t live my life like a normal person.

“My daily activities are always changing to stop Aiden ambushing me like last night.”

When officers traced Hubbard-Stewart to an address in Cliftonville he was trying to escape out of a window.

At Canterbury Crown Court on Friday he could be seen yawning, gesturing to the public gallery and smirking.

“I’m constantly on edge and always anxious. I’m planning on moving out of Canterbury. I can’t live my life like a normal person..."

Judge Mark Weekes told Hubbard-Stewart:“Make no mistake this is a case of domestic abuse. You are an abuser and you behaved in a cowardly fashion.

“It is cowardly because your victim can’t fight back. You have bullied and brow-beaten her because you enjoy a sense of power.

“Your attempt to laugh the case off - playing to the public gallery - demonstrates to me a real lack of insight or remorse.”

Hubbard-Stewart, previously of Tennyson Avenue, Canterbury, was also handed an indefinite restraining order after pleading guilty earlier this year to unlawful wounding, intimidation, assault by beating and breaching a non-molestation order.

His barrister, Kerry Waitt, said: “He is a young man facing a significant time in custody.

“On his release he will again be subject to supervision.

“I would submit that this defendant, who has two friends present in court who have stood by him, is anxious to turn around his life and move on.”

Read more: All the latest news from Canterbury