The obsessive niece of Oxfordshire weatherman Bill Giles was starting a six-month jail sentence today after waging a seven-year hate campaign against him.

Joanna Toner, 38, bombarded the BBC's Bill, from Chinnor, and his family and friends with vicious letters claiming her uncle was actually her father.

She also sent scores of letters to the BBC and Met Office, even writing to newsreader Moira Stewart. One letter claimed Bill's wife was having an affair with former England footballer Bobby Charlton.

Bill, 58, and second wife Maureen, received a stream of abusive letters, with one message signed "The Stalker". Speaking before the hearing, Bill said: "They are fabrications of her twisted mind."

Two hoax bomb threats were phoned to the BBC and Channel 5.

Exeter magistrates jailed Toner for six months and issued a restraining order banning her from contacting Bill, his family, the BBC, or the Met Office.

The single mum-of-two, of Tiverton, Devon, admitted harassment.

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