Edward Vines (pictured) has been stalking BBC presenter Emily Maitlis for 27 years
A former university friend of Newsnight presenter Emily Maitlis who stalked her for 27 years has been jailed for three years for breaching a restraining order.
Edward Vines, 47, from Oxford, re-started his campaign of harassment despite a restraining order banning him from contacting the journalist or her relatives.
He had previously sent mother-of-two Ms Maitlis letters from his prison cell after he was jailed for three years in 2016 over the stalking.
Ms Mailtis, 47, did not receive the letters, which were sent to the BBC and intercepted by security guards.
When he was released, he ramped up his campaign and bombarded her with more creepy messages, Oxford Crown Court heard.
Vines first met Ms Maitlis, 47, in their first year at Queen’s College, Cambridge, in 1989.
Vines, who also tried to contact the presenter’s mother, received his first restraining order in 2002.
A judge in 2016 said he had a ‘completely unshakable’ obsession with the presenter.
The stalking got so bad Ms Maitlis revealed her two children had security to get on a bus to school and she required an escort to go shopping at a supermarket.
Vines first met Ms Maitlis, 47, in their first year at Queen’s College, Cambridge, in 1989