PAUL DRAPER, former frontman of Chester band Mansun, has had a six-month interim stalking protection order imposed after being accused of sending “abusive and sexually orientated” messages to a fellow musician and collaborator.

Draper, 52, was accused of launching a campaign of harassment against former partner Catherine Anne Davies, AKA the Anchoress, and her manager, Sean Adams.

According to the Daily Mail, a Guildford court has imposed an interim stalking protection order at the request of Surrey Police.

The court heard that Ms Davies had invited Draper to sing on her debut album, 2016’s Confessions of a Romance Novelist, and then helped him launch a solo career, co-writing songs for his 2017 album, Spooky Action, which charted at No 19 and marked a critically acclaimed comeback for Draper following Mansun's split in 2003.

Barrister Kris Berlevy told the court that Draper had “carried out acts associated with stalking, and poses a risk,” and that there were 116 pages of evidence. Draper is also accused of targeting Ms Davies’ current boyfriend and manager, Sean Adams.

Draper has denied the accusations saying that he was not responsible for “the vast majority” of allegedly “aggressive and derogatory” messages and claiming there was a “significant background” to any contact he had made himself.

Ms Berlevy said: “Mr Draper and Miss Davies are professional songwriters and were once in a relationship which was rekindled in 2017, before coming to an end in 2018. Since then there has been a sustained campaign by Mr Draper of emails, social media messages, and the like, against her and her partner.

"The messages take the form of abusive and sexually orientated messages, which are extensive and regular.”

Under the terms of the interim order, Draper is "prohibited from contacting Miss Davies or Mr Adams, or her family members, by any means, including “inciting another person to do so” or publishing material which refers to them" and is also "forbidden from signing up to websites or subscriptions in Miss Davies’ name, and from visiting her family home or the house she shares with her partner. Breaking the order could lead to imprisonment".

Draper denies the claim, with the case going to a contested hearing at Staines Magistrates Court in May 2023, delayed to allow him to tour in March and April 2023.

Mansun formed in Chester in the early 90s.

The band signed to Parlophone in 1995 and went on to enjoy huge hits during the Britpop-era such as Wide Open Space, Taxloss and I Can Only Disappoint U.

In 1997, their debut album, Attack of the Green Lantern, went to number one in the UK charts.