MAGISTRATES have imposed a restraining order on the father of a Blackburn Rovers footballer to stop him contacting the soccer star's mum.

Blackburn magistrates imposed the order on Daniel Humphries Gallagher before releasing him from custody where he had been for the last 18 days after breaching bail.

Prosecutor Peter Wild told the court that while bail conditions had not kept Gallagher away from his ex-wife the threat of a maximum penalty of five years in prison for breaching a restraining order might have more of an effect.

Gallagher, 44, of Douglas Place, Blackburn, had previously pleaded guilty to harassing Anne Bowman and damaging a telephone line at her home. The case has been adjourned for the preparation of pre-sentence reports.

The court heard that Gallagher, father of Rovers and Scotland Under 21 star Paul Gallagher, had threatened to "bang" his ex wife and had gone round to her house in a drunken state. He was seen standing on the roof of the garden shed shouting abuse and had cut the phone line. Police eventually found him hiding in the garden shed.

Gallagher, who was said to have an alcohol problem, spent three weeks in hospital with depression during the proceedings and had phoned his wife several times in contravention of bail conditions.

Under the terms of the restraining order, which will run until Gallagher is sentenced for the substantive offences, he must not approach within 500 m of his ex-wife's home or approach or contact her.