TWO Hampshire parents have banned their son from contacting them for five years after getting fed up at him constantly pestering them for cash to feed his drug habit.

Twenty-four-year-old Matthew Kerley was forbidden to contact his parents last year until 2022 through a restraining order after being convicted of harassment.

Trying to battle his drug addiction, Kerley was sentenced to 32 weeks behind bars last year after his harassment of multiple family members, along with driving off a number of times without paying for petrol.

Now, he has been hauled in front of a judge again after ignoring the order to ask his parents, of Summerlands Road, Fair Oak, for even more money.

Southampton Magistrates Court heard that in April, he called them 30 times in a single day.

Last July, Kerley's father Paul supported a restraining order suggested by the Crown Prosecution Service after Matthew's "pestering" had caused his parents anxiety and stress.

Despite that, solicitor Liam Hunt told the court how Kerley would still ask his parents for money, only to lie about the reason.

He told the court: "He told his parents he had a job interview and needed to shave, but his shaver had broken halfway through. He asked his parents for money, which they gave him, but he then turned up with a full beard.

"His pestering of his parents for money led to the harassment conviction last year, but this behaviour seems to have started up again. In one day last month, his parents received 30 calls. These have also been in the middle of the night.

"A number of messages have also been received criticising them, before asking yet again for money."

Mitigating, Julie Macey said that Kerley acknowledged his actions had to stop, and that time spent in HMP Bullingdon had done him "the world of good".

She said: "He is looking a lot healthier now than when I saw him three weeks ago. While he was not supposed to contact his parents, it was their bank account that his benefits were being sent to. Now, I believed that is fixed.

"He has a friend to go and stay with now, so things are looking up. He acknowledges he caused his parents a lot of stress and anxiety, and that it had to stop. Prison seems to have done him the world of good."

Presiding, chair Steven Anderton sentenced Kerley to a 12 month community order with a 20-day rehabilitation activity requirement, along with an £85 victim surcharge.