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Chris Knox, defending Daniel Graham, said the defendant had set up a “proper business which paid tax and did all the appropriate things”.

He said the ground worker’s home, and the business he operated from it, were attacked after he was remanded in custody, including having windows broken, the barrister said.

He said:

He is a troubled man who has had very real difficulties in his life, which have not all been of his own making.

Graham had also received hate mail which showed “very unpleasant, malign intent towards him,” Mr Knox said.

He included four character references for the judge to consider.

Referring to a previous depressive illness that Graham had suffered from, which resulted in him going to hospital, Mrs Justice Lambert said she had been told that the condition was in remission.

Mr Knox agreed and said that he was not asking the judge to give Graham a discounted sentence, but he reaffirmed that the defendant was “a man who has had difficulties”.

Mr Knox said Graham will have to rebuild his life when he is eventually released, adding: “He will have to rely on his friends to get himself re-established.”