Spurned lover Simon Wrigley could not come to terms with the fact that his nine-year relationship with his partner had finished.

So when the Herne Bay man saw her driving along Millstrood Road in Whitstable he gave chase.

What happened next left victim Emily Phillips terrified as the 43-year-old embarked on what he would later describe as “15 minutes of madness”.

And it resulted in Wrigley, of Oakdale Road, receiving a suspended jail sentence and an 18-month driving ban.

Prosecutor David Hewitt told Canterbury Crown Court how delivery driver Ms Phillips was in Whitstable on January 10 when she was seen by her ex-lover driving in the opposite direction.

Wrigley turned his car around and chased her along Long Reach Close and when she stopped to make a delivery, Wrigley tried to block the road to stop her leaving.

He said the frightened victim then drove onto a kerb to get around his vehicle but Wrigley followed again along the Thanet Way – shunting her vehicle three times.

“He then drove alongside her vehicle and began waving what appeared to be a metal wheel brace in a menacing manner,” he added.

Wrigley forced Ms Phillips’ vehicle onto a grass verge and then got in front and started to drive slowly.

“As she tried to overtake, Wrigley then began swerving across the road, causing her and other road-users to take evasive action,” added the prosecutor.

Ms Phillips called the police and was advised to get off the road and she turned along the entrance slip road to seek refuge at the Dargate Service Station.

Wrigley used the wheel brace and his fist to hit the window of her vehicle shouting: “I am going to put your boyfriend in a coma and kill you!”

Ms Phillips later told police she still feels fearful and the incident has had a “dramatic impact” on her life.

“I am going to put your boyfriend in a coma and kill you!” - Simon Wrigley

The Judge, Recorder Edward Connell, told Wrigley: “What you did must have been terrifying for her, but I accept it was a spur of the moment incident.

“I accept, too, you were upset about the end of your relationship but I don’t accept your claim that this was just a rant and that you did not mean her any harm.

“Your behaviour that day was totally unacceptable, but your ex-partner has said she had never seen you behave this violent way before.”

Wrigley, who admitted driving dangerously and making threats to kill, was given a 12-month jail sentence suspended for 18 months and ordered to do 200 hours of unpaid work for the community.

The judge also made an order preventing Wrigley from contacting his ex-partner indefinitely.