A "most dreadful bully" who continued a campaign of harassment against his ex-wife by falsely telling police she was abusing her daughter was today back behind bars.

Nigel Fox, from Townfield Lane, Chalfont St. Giles, has caused "11 years of psychological and physical abuse" to his former partner Jeanette, a court heard, and he continued that by lying to police about her attacking the one of the couple's daughters.

His phone call - which resulting in him breaching a restraining order against his ex-wife, who he separated from in acrimonious circumstances after 23 years of marriage - resulted in police waking up a confused mother and daughter when they went to their house at 2am.

It was the latest in a long line of offences that amounted to harassment of Mrs Fox, with a court being told that the defendant had five previous convictions for offences committed against her.

Only one of those resulted in him being sent to prison, but he has been jailed again after his daughter said she was convinced Fox was going to kill his ex-wife.

In a victim statement read to the court, the daughter said she could recall a time when Fox poured bleach over his former wife's head to clean her.

The daughter said: "This is a big game to Fox. This is causing me and my mum sleepless nights.

"Nigel Fox has always said he will kill my mum and will not stop until it is done. I really believe Fox will do so at some point."

A judge heard that since separation in 2004, 52-year-old Fox had bombarded his former wife with abusive text messages, phone calls and voicemails.

That had led to him being made the subject of several restraining orders - the latest of which he breached by making malicious phone calls about Mrs Fox to the police on August 8.

He admitted to the latest breach and was jailed for 19 months.

Passing sentence at Aylesbury Crown Court, where Fox appeared via a video link from prison, Judge Francis Sheridan told the defendant: "

"You have mentally tortured Jeanette Fox over the years.

“I am told, not for the first time, that you are now going to leave your former wife alone.

"Your wife has had sleepless nights, worrying you would seek revenge for leaving her," Judge Sheridan added.

"You are a most dreadful bully. The time has come where you are going to leave them alone. Your gnawing away at your wife and daughter is wicked."

Judge Sheridan made Fox the subject of a new restraining order, forbidding him from making any form of contact with his wife or daughters, including going to their home addresses and being within 25 metres of them.

He said the order would last until further notice.