The woman who stalked top footballer Rio Ferdinand has been jailed for 10 weeks and handed a 10 year restraining order.

Susanne Ibru, 38, left the England star fearing for his family’s safety after making three 400-mile round trips to his Cheshire home and demanding to speak with him.

Ibru had previously tried to set a woman from Thornton Heath on fire after a row over a scotch egg, by dousing her in petrol and flicking matches at her.

Zerlina Reid, now 27, was left traumatised and said her nightmares returned when Ibru hit the headlines again for stalking Ferdinand.

Sentencing, District Judge Nicholas Sanders said he was “concerned” by the defendant’s behaviour since she had been in custody.

He said: “The pre-sentence report describes you as living in a fantasy world, unable to interpret social situations and boundaries.

“You display a predatory and manipulative lifestyle and try to deliberately mislead interviewers.”

Ibru said she would be appealing the sentence, and told the judge “I stick two fingers up at you” as she was led to the cells.