A Sidmouth man has been jailed for making drunken sex calls to women in his home town and in Axminster.

Shaun Harper, 51, rang up businesses in the two towns and shocked the women who happened to answer the phone by initiating bizarre sexual conversations.

He did the same to a social worker who had been trying to help him overcome an alcohol problem.

During the calls he fantasised about having sex with them, made strange noises and used foul language while asking about their sexual orientation.

Harper has a long history of anti-social behaviour, including bombarding a hairdresser and a waitress with sexual calls in the past.

That led to a Sexual Behaviour Order being made which prohibited him from making unwanted calls to women – but he breached the order.

At Exeter Crown Court Harper, of South Lawns, Sidmouth, admitted five charges of making offensive, indecent, or obscene communications and six of breaking a Sexual Behaviour Order.

He was jailed for a year and ten months by Judge Timothy Rose, who will decide at a later hearing whether to impose a fresh sexual harm prevention order.

The judge told Harper: “You not only broke the order by making contact with the women but then turned the content of the calls to sexualised language that caused a great deal of distress and upset.

“It seems you have been completely out of control for about ten years and have broken every court order that has ever been made.”

The three women targeted in his most recent calls wrote victim impact statements in which they said they felt violated, shocked, shaken, anxious, ‘creeped out’ and taken aback.

When interviewed by police, Harper said he had been so drunk he could not recall making the calls but was ashamed of his actions.

He has convictions for 80 previous offences including several for anti-social behaviour against neighbours when he lived in Woodland Road, Broadclyst and Harbour Road, Seaton.

Mr Samuel Wysocki, defending, said Harper’s offending has all been caused by abuse of alcohol but he is now dry and determined to remain so.

He said the best way to protect the community would be to release him on a tag which would ensure he does not drink again.