A stalker who made life hell for a university student in Canterbury has been warned by magistrates that he could go to jail.

David Ward, 53, from Summer Lees Cottages, Hernhill, persistently waited for and followed 20-year-old Afua Boake-Ansah outside the Fenwick store in Canterbury where she works as a desk clerk at weekends.

It went on for months and when she confronted him, he told her: "It's not as if I'm going to hurt you - I just think you're really attractive."

Even after his arrest his continued to follow her in breach of his bail conditions.

Jobless Ward, who initially denied harassing her, changed his plea to guilty when he appeared before Ashford magistrates on Monday. He was remanded in custody while a probation report is prepared but warned he could be given a jail sentence.

After the hearing, Miss Afua Boake-Ansah, of Martyr's Field Road, Canterbury, who is studying accounting at Christ Chirch University, told the Kentish Gazette how Ward's unwanted attention had made her life a misery.

"She said: "It completely changed my life and made me anxious and paranoid about going out. I used to be happy walking about the city but that all changed and I found myself constantly looking out for him."

Ward's solicitor, Terry Knox described him as a 'pathetic individual' who had finally accepted that his pursuit of Miss Boake-Ansah had affected her.

He said the mitigating aspects of the case was that there had been no physical contact or threats of violence."