'Possessive' Sutton man faces jail if he contacts ex

Shane Price sent the woman texts which read: “Don’t you care about all the pain you have cause me?” and “I don’t deserve this.” before saying he still loved her and offering to take care of her pet dog.

Prosecutor Donna Fawcett said: “She broke up with Mr Price at the beginning of the year after an assault.

“She reported him in May for damaging her car. He was found guilty and he received a restraining order until 2018.”

The woman told police: “I haven’t replied to any of the messages. I am worried about what his intentions are. I am always looking over my shoulder. He has been possessive of me.”

The court heard that Price approached the woman in the street, in June, and shouted at her.

Price, 30, of Clegg Hill Drive, Huthwaite, admittted harassment, between August 10 and 12, when he appeared at Mansfield Magistrates Court, on Wednesday.

Tim Haines, mitigating, said: “He accepts he has been extremely foolish in sending these messages. He understands that she has moved on and has a new partner.”

He said Price, a lorry driver, contacted the woman after seeing her “looking down” when he spotted her by chance.

District judge Jonathan Taaffe said: “This is the second breach of an order within a relatively short space of time and this court will not tolerate breaches.”

He gave Price a 26 week prison sentence, suspended for two years, and told him: “If you breach these orders again or offend in any way in the next two years then your starting point will be 26 weeks.”

The district judge also extended the restraining order by two years, to June 2020, and ordered Price to pay £85 costs and a £115 victim surcharge.