A SELF-confessed "dirty old man" refused to take no for an answer from a young woman who continually spurned his advances.

At the height of his "deluded feelings", John Bramma even wrote her a cheque for £40,000 to try to win her affections.

His behaviour over two years from 2015 was described by a judge as no different to the accusations of harassment made against several politicians currently making the headlines.

Bramma, 52, of Lady Street, Dulverton, made comments to his victim that made her feel "horrible and dirty", prosecutor David Scutt told Taunton Crown Court.

"He'd comment on her bottom and her legs and told her to dress to make herself more attractive," said Mr Scutt.

"He started to say he loved her and wanted her to have his babies.

"His behaviour disturbed her and made her feel uncomfortable.

"He asked for cuddles and kissed her on the cheek. It was wholly unwanted."

Bramma frequently contacted her on her mobile until she blocked him, at which point he contacted her mother and even phoned and turned up at his victim's workplace, asking her colleagues to pass on messages.

He briefly refrained from contacting her after police told him to back off after his victim reported him.

But soon after, he went to her place of employment threatening to kill himself and handed over a cheque for £40,000 for her.

Bramma, who has a previous conviction for a similar course of harassment, wrote down his feelings for her in a notebook - among his observations, he said: "I'm in love with you. I need you in my life.

"I'm just such a dirty old man who fell in love with a beautiful woman."

In a victim statement to the court, the young woman said she felt "traumatised and repulsed by the whole matter".

Emma Martin, defending, said Bramma was "emotionally vulnerable" at the time of his actions as his mother was unwell.

He is now undergoing therapy and attends Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.

Judge David Evans sentenced Bramma to concurrent 18-month community orders for two counts of harassment he had admitted at a previous hearing.

Bramma was also ordered to do 100 hours unpaid work and to pay £200, and given a five-year restraining order banning him from contacting his victim.

The judge told him: "You made the kind of comments you should never make.

"It's the sort of intimate abuse that is all over the headlines at the moment from the Palace of Westminster down - and this is no different "You caused her distress, upset and alarm. The police warned you to stay away, but you couldn't control your deluded feelings."