Angry that her married former lover had broken up with her, a clerk sent him numerous text messages and called his wife repeatedly to tell her he had cheated on her with other women.

Malaysian Ding Lay Hua, 45, a Singapore permanent resident, admitted to stalking her former lover between January and November 2015.

Yesterday, the married mother of three was jailed for three months. The maximum penalty for the offence is a $5,000 fine and 12 months' jail.

Last month, Deputy Public Prosecutor Dora Tay told the court that Ding had met the taxi driver, now in his 60s and a father of two, at a coffee shop near their homes some time in 2013.

They later became intimate, visiting hotels on a number of occasions between June and November 2014, and travelling on trips abroad. Towards the end, their relationship soured.

Ding began harassing him and his family in early January 2015, using a marker to write on walls at staircase and lift landings to suggest he was a womaniser. Some time around February and March that year, she left rubbish in front of his home.

In April, she scattered photographs of his daughter in public areas near his block, and pasted notes intended to suggest that his daughter was offering services as a prostitute.

About 20 police reports were lodged against Ding.

Despite warnings from the police that action would be taken if she continued the harassment, she went on to leave harassing notes near her former lover's home and to disconnect his cellphone lines.

Pleading for leniency, Ding's lawyer Steven Lam said his client's actions were totally out of character.

He said Ding, a victim herself, had been diagnosed with depression and anxiety. She felt humiliated and upset when her former lover disparaged her by spreading rumours that she had initiated their sexual encounters.

Her psychiatrist Ang Yong Guan said in his report that Ding felt angry that the man had treated her as a "sex object'' and she had allowed herself to be manipulated by him.

While noting her personal circumstances and that she was a first offender, District Judge Samuel Chua said he had to consider the gravity of what she had done to the complainant and his family.