A shop worker who took a liking to a colleague half his age pestered her when she rejected his advances, a court heard.

Anthony Carpenter, 42, harassed the young woman for a date, stared at her when they were on duty at the Currys PC World store in Horsted Retail Park in Chatham and bombarded her with Facebook messages.

Carpenter was so persistent that she was forced to contact police who issued an harassment warning. Initially the contact stopped but resumed after about six months on her Facebook page.

Carpenter, of Armada Court, Elm Avenue, Chatham, was charged with harassment without violence and initially denied the allegation but changed his plea to guilty before he was due to stand trial at Medway Magistrates’ Court.

The court was told Carpenter pestered the woman between August 2015 and October last year after he and other work colleagues had been invited to her birthday party.

James Nichols, prosecuting, told the court the woman, who is from Rochester, began working at the store in May 2015 when she met Carpenter and in August invited all her work colleagues, including him, to her party.

"She found him strange and he was trying to speak to her but she gave him a wide berth" - James Nichols, prosecuting

Mr Nichols said: “She found him strange and he was trying to speak to her but she gave him a wide berth.

“He also contacted her on Facebook but she told him she was in a relationship and she didn’t feel that way about him.

“He was so persistent she raised a grievance about it with her manager at work as he would stare at her constantly and she requested a transfer.

“The victim has found it difficult to cope and has been relying on her boyfriend for support.

“She is also scared she will bump into him when she is out and has now changed her job and where she shops, she used to shop at the nearby Asda store, but doesn’t now. She has been stressed out over this and has had sleepless nights.”

The court also heard Carpenter first claimed the woman was making up the claims.

Manjit Tesse, defending, said his client’s messages were never threatening or abusive.

Magistrates placed Carpenter on a 12-month community order gave him a restraining order.

He was also ordered to pay £300 costs and £200 compensation to the woman.