A MAN from Taunton has been fined and handed a restraining order after causing criminal damage to property valued at under £5,000.

Ryan Mills, of East Reach, “damaged an internal wall” with unknown value while “intending to destroy or damage such property or being reckless as to whether such property would be destroyed or damaged”.

Mills, 36, committed the offence in Trowbridge, Wiltshire on December 14, 2021.

He changed his plea to guilty at South East Wiltshire Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, May 11.

Under his restraining order, he cannot directly or indirectly contact the woman whose wall he damaged, “save via the police for the sole purpose of retrieving belongings”.

He must not enter a named street in Trowbridge “or any other address” where he knows or suspects the woman may be living.

The restraining order will last until May 10, 2027.

Mills was also fined £54 and ordered to pay costs of £120 to the Crown Prosecution Service and a £34 surcharge to fund victim services.

He has until Wednesday, June 8 to pay his £208 court bill.