A stalker from Broadway, banned from contacting an Earl's daughter after bombarding her with letters and phone calls, failed to appear before Cheltenham Magistrates Court to face a charge of breaching a restraining order.

Stephen Adamson, 44, of Bridgemans Close, is charged with breaching the order to stop bothering Lady Rosalthe Rundall by allegedly putting up indecent posters in the Cotswolds. He is also charged with another offence of harassment that was allegedly committed on January 1, 2005.

As well as the restraining order, Adamson is subject to a suspended prison sentence because of his past contact with solicitor's wife Lady Rosalthe, daughter of the 7th Earl of Harrowby.

Last Thursday, Adamson failed to appear but both Ray Tarling defending and Martin Hunt prosecuting agreed that the case could not have made any progress even if he had shown up.

The prosecution needed to see the posters to decide whether they constituted a breach of the order and, as yet, the police had failed to provide them, Mr Hunt said.

Mr Tarling said his client had rung to say he could not make it but stated he was unaware of the reason for his absence. Both solicitors agreed that Adamson was not to know that progress was not going to be made but Mr Hunt declined to ask for a warrant for his arrest.

The clerk of the court said that Adamson's absence would be noted on the court file.

Courts have been told at previous hearings that after applying for a cleaning job at the aristocrat's farmhouse home in Aston sub Edge, near Chipping Campden, Adamson became convinced she welcomed his advances and that romance was on the cards. Besotted Adamson then continually bombarded her with letters and phone calls - up to 16 a day.

When he was arrested, he claimed that Lady Rosalthe welcomed his attention and was no longer interested in her husband, Francis Rundall, a leading City of London lawyer, so kept their friendship a secret from him. He had breached earlier restraining orders by continuing to contact her and putting up posters on public notice boards.

Adamson is currently subject to an five-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, and a restraining order which runs until August 24, 2006.

Adamson was ordered to return to the court on May 19. He is on conditional bail that he resides at his home address, has no contact with the Rundall family, does not display any materials relating to the Rundall family and does not enter Aston sub Edge.