Nobody was laughing today after comedian Rory McGrath avoided prison after admitting harassing a married former lover for 14 months. The They Think It’s All Over star pleaded guilty to one count of harassment and received a 10 week prison sentence suspended for 18 months.

Prosecutors said McGrath sent the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, electronic messages, approached her in the street and followed her between June 2015 and last August. The court heard McGrath, of Cambridge also sent letters to the woman’s husband.