A former prison officer killed herself when her criminal ex-boyfriend, a former Rochester inmate, tried to blackmail her.

The tragic details of Karen Mulliner's death were heard in court as her ex-partner was jailed for stealing £6,200 from her bank account.

Miss Mulliner met Grey at Rochester Young Offenders Institute in 2007.

Following his release, she separated from her husband and quit her job and the pair moved in together.

But the relationship turned sour and they split. She later discovered he had stolen £300 from her bank account every day for three weeks.

Grey then tried to blackmail her into giving him another £10,000 and threatened to tell her parents about their secret relationship if she did not hand over the cash.

Miss Mulliner was found dead at her home in Christchurch, Dorset, on September 13 last year.

Before she died, she scrawled a message on a mirror saying: "I'm sorry, he's destroyed me."

Grey admitted fraud and was sentenced to eight months in prison on Tuesday.

He was not present at Bournemouth Crown Court to hear his sentence because he refused to leave his cell at Chelmsford prison, where he is serving a 30-month sentence for unrelated offences.

Kieran Galvin, defending, said: "This young man is seriously troubled by drugs."