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A stalker broke into a teenage girl's bedroom and hid under her bed all night after sending a text message saying 'I'm watching you', a court heard.

Kyle Ravenscroft sent frightening text messages to his victim saying he was "in the grounds" of her Chester house and was "watching her".

The 18-year-old, from Richmond Court, Ellesmere Port, even threatened to hang himself outside her bedroom window so she would wake up and find him dangling there.

His teenage victim, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, found Ravenscroft the next morning, after getting the feeling she was being watched and checking her room - he was hiding under her bed.

Ravenscroft, who has no previous convictions, was spared jail today (Tuesday) by Chester magistrates who described the incident as "frightening" and "psychologically harming".

He was sentenced to 12 weeks behind bars, suspended for two years, a supervision order and ordered to pay £100 compensation to his victim after pleading guilty to stalking at Chester Magistrates Court.

He was also ordered to complete 80 hours of unpaid work and made subject to a restraining order - forbidding him from contacting or going near her.

His 16-year-old victim was at home with her mother when she was sent a series of "frightening" text messages from Ravenscroft, on July 3 this year.

He said he had walked from Ellesmere Port to her Chester house , was "standing in the grounds watching her" and he "hoped she would wake up and find him hanging outside", the court heard.

She was so frightened by the messages she decided to sleep in her mum's room, as her bedroom was on the ground floor.

Just before she fell asleep, at just after midnight, he sent her a terrifying text reading "I'm in your house". She didn't believe him but thought he was nearby, said Rob Youd prosecuting.

But the next morning she returned to her room and was sat on her bed on the phone to a friend when she sensed someone was watching her.

"She had the feeling she was being watched and listened to, she checked everything. She checked her wardrobe, behind doors," he said.

"She then noticed that all her shoe boxes, normally neatly lined-up, under her bed had been moved. She crouched down and saw him hiding under it.

"She said "what are you doing under my bed" and he said he had been asleep."

A moment later her mum came into the room and spotted him, she yelled at him to leave but before he did he stole the teenage girl's phone, which police say he used to 'discover personal details about her life'.

Later when her mum checked the room she noticed the handle and lock to her daughter's bedroom window had been completely snapped-off.

Ravenscroft jumped out of a first floor window when police arrived at his Ellesmere Port house, which he shares with his mum, on July 23.

He went into custody after speaking to police on the phone. When interviewed Ravenscroft, who knew his victim, said he felt like the whole thing was "steep".

Ravenscroft, who has no previous dealings with the police, was released on bail but was rearrested after attending the victim's workplace to hand her a letter.

The court heard how Ravenscroft had been wound up after seeing the victim speaking to another man on Snapchat.

"This has been a massive wake up call for Mr Ravenscroft," said Taryn Craddock.

"He is a bright young man capable of change."

Ordering Ravenscroft to pay court costs of £85, a victim surcharge of £80 and to partake in a 'building better relationships' course, presiding magistrate Moria Chapman said: "This is a serious offence, it is really frightening for someone to go into their room and find someone under their bed."