A judge has warned a 61-year-old man with a form of autism to end his “disturbing” interest in a young girl – or face a possible jail sentence.

Carlisle Crown Court heard that Isaac Gordon failed to turn up for his magistrates' court trial and he was convicted in his absence of harassing the schoolgirl.

He repeatedly gave the youngster unwanted toys and chocolates, and called at her home, asking her parents if his “pal” was there. He stuffed the gifts through the letterbox of the girl's Whitehaven home.

Gordon also commented that he was going to marry her.

An earlier hearing was told that the girl had been left traumatised by Gordon's persistent and unwanted attention. At Carlisle's magistrates' court, he was convicted of harassment and jailed for 60 days.

But following an appeal hearing, Judge Peter Davies, sitting with two magistrates, overturned the jail term, saying that Gordon's mental health issues meant he should not have been tried in his absence.

The defendant, of Woodstock Lane, Whitehaven, was instead given a three year community order as well as a restraining order which aims to prevent Gordon from making any contact with the girl or her family.

Giving the court's ruling, Judge Davies told Gordon: “I want to make it clear that this offence of harassment is extremely concerning; extremely disturbing, and it passes in our judgement the custody threshold – not least because of the impact on the girl.”

There was no reason to think that the youngster was anything other than a charming little girl, said the judge.

But Gordon refused to acknowledge doing anything wrong, despite being guilty of a persistent course of conduct, said the judge.

Judge Davies continued: “We don't criticise the court when it considered a custodial sentence was appropriate.

“But bearing in mind that to all intents and purposes this was a 61-year-old man with no previous convictions, who has a mental health condition, it was probably premature to sentence him to 60 days in the way that magistrates did.”

Addressing the defendant, who denied the harassment, the judge said: “We want to stop you, Mr Gordon, having any contact with this young lady; we want to stop you having any contact with this family, and that's what we're going to do.”

Instead of the suspended jail term, the judge imposed a three-year community order, with a requirement to complete 30 days of rehabilitation.

Noting that Gordon saw no need to comply with a court order, the judge told him: “I respectfully disagree, and you will comply with the order of the court... If you fail to comply with the community order you will be in breach and the court will be empowered to sentence you to custody.”

An earlier hearing was told that Gordon had been diagnosed with the autism spectrum condition Asperger's syndrome.

A lifelong developmental disability, the condition affects how people perceive the world and interact with others. One aspect of the condition can be an inability to properly understand social boundaries.