A convicted sex offender tried to set fire to his ex-girlfriend’s home when her son was inside.
Edgar Warnakulasuriya stalked Natalie Cox and followed her home from work, grabbing her and ripping her dress.
Liverpool Crown Court heard Ms Cox was walking back to her home in Walton when her former partner approached, at around 10pm, on Sunday, June 20 this year.
Graham Pickavance, prosecuting, said: “He was clearly drunk and wanted her to come out for a drink with him. She refused as she had work the next morning.
“She tried to walk away but he had hold of her dress. He pulled, causing it to rip.”
Ms Cox called out for help and two men came over, so Warnakulasuriya fled.
The victim went home and went to bed, but at around 3am he rang her front doorbell and was shouting “betrayal”.
Ms Cox didn’t answer and Warnakulasuriya went away, before later that morning she got up and went to work.
Her adult son was working from home and at around 1.35pm he saw someone bending down by the front door.
The Sri Lankan national’s previous convictions include destroying property in 2010.
Warnakulasuriya had an application for asylum refused in 2009 after entering the country illegally and was removed in 2010.
He falsely used a Belgian ID document to return to Britain but was caught when he applied for a driving licence in March 2012.
Warnakulasuriya was jailed for 10 months for possession of a false identity document in October 2012.
He was locked up for six weeks for a domestic assault in 2014, when a restraining order was made, which he later breached.
In 2017 he was jailed for 21 months for sexual assault.
The judge, Recorder Ian Unsworth, QC, said the incident in the street “no doubt caused fear” for Ms Cox.
The judge said: “She deserved not to be treated in that way. She deserved respect and courtesy.”
Jailing him for three and a half years, the judge also made an indefinite restraining order to protect Ms Cox.
He said: “She deserves respect and courtesy and you must leave her alone.”
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