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A "brutal and manipulative" pimp has been jailed for stalking his wife and threatening to kill her.

Ion Raduca's wife Sylvia fled to Britain while he was in prison in Romania for attempted murder.

Raduca, 34, followed her to Exeter after his release from jail in 2018 and found her through social media.

Judge Paul Cook sentenced Raduca, of Deepdale, Lancashire, to four-and-half years in jail after he pleaded guilty to stalking at Exeter Crown Court.

Raduca told his wife she would never see their four-year-old daughter again.

He also threatened to sexually assault the daughter of his wife's friend who refused to reveal Sylvia Raduca's location.

During sentencing, the judge told Raduca: "Throughout your relationship you treated her with contempt and brutality and you controlled her."

Raduca, originally from Romania, had been jailed for making women work as prostitutes in France in 2013 and was jailed again in Romania for attempted murder in 2016.

After his release from prison in December 2018, Raduca came to the UK in January the following year to find his wife.

Raduca sent hundreds of messages described by the judge as "obscene, repellent, deeply offensive and disturbing".

"Your stalking of her was prolonged, determined, intense and sinister," he added.

Raduca was arrested in a car park in Exeter in February after his wife called the police.

A pre-sentence report prepared for the court assessed Raduca as "brutal and manipulative" with an "utter disregard for the rights of women".

He was sentenced to four-and-a-half years with an extended licence period of two years and an indefinite order prohibiting contact with his wife.