A 33-year-old man who posted himself to the house of his ex partner in Heerenveen has been sentenced to four months for stalking, the Leeuwarder Courant reported.

The delivery took place on May 18 and was the culmination of a series of incidents following the break up of the couple’s one-year relationship, including the theft of her keys, trespassing and placing a tracker in her home.

The man told the magistrate that having himself delivered in a box was “the only way to get in and get my stuff back”.

When he emerged from the box, the woman claims, he threatened her with a gun. He then took off with the keys to the house. No weapon was found at the man’s home address but the prosecutor said he did steal the keys as well as bombard the woman with emails and create a social media account in her name.

The woman placed a camera in her home after the incident with the box which showed the man had turned up in her house three times. During one of his visits he placed a tracker behind the cooker.

The man claimed the woman had given permission for the visits and that the keys were given to him earlier. But that did not impress the magistrate who agreed to the prosecutor’s demand of four months in jail and a three-year restraining order.