AN 82-YEAR-OLD man has been ordered to pay £400 in compensation to a 24-year-old woman he was stalking.

Alexander Lauder, of Southfield, St Boswells, pleaded guilty to engaging in a course of conduct likely to cause the woman fear and alarm by repeatedly attending at her place of work, repeatedly attempting to contact her and following her.

The offence happened at a shop in Kelso and at a store in Newtown St Boswells between October 16 last year and February 24.

Jedburgh Sheriff Court was told that the victim lived near Lauder and his late wife when she was a teenager and she was like a daughter to them.

As she grew older she would do grocery shopping for them.

But in 2020 she texted Lauder to say she wanted nothing more to do with him and changed her phone number.

But the court heard of a series of occasions when he tried to contact her or would turn up at her place of work.

Even though he received a warning from the police in January, he tapped her on the shoulder in Newtown St Boswells in February and also drove past her a number of times when she was standing at a bus stop and would stare at her or make a gesture.

Defence lawyer Ed Hulme said his client was not intending to upset her but accepted he was reckless after being warned by the police.

Sheriff Peter Paterson admonished Lauder on the stalking charge but ordered him to pay the woman £400.

He also imposed a Non-Harassment Order forbidding him from having any contact with her for the next five years.