A Bridport man has been told he needs to ‘leave his ex-partner alone’ after bombarding her with messages of abuse and porn.
Raymond Cove repeatedly contacted his partner after their relationship ended because he ‘couldn’t help himself’, a court heard.
Cove, 37, appeared at Bournemouth Crown Court on June 19, having admitted three counts of breaching a restraining order.
The defendant had split with his partner after 14 years in July 2022, but was handed the restraining order in March 2023 after he assaulted her.
Prosecutor Roderick Blain told the court how in April 2023, the pair began communicating again over text.
Cove’s ex-partner considered some of messages to be 'inappropriate' and she reminded him of the restraining order in place, Mr Blain said.
While communication briefly stopped, there were ‘short bursts of getting in contact’ by the defendant over the following months.
The court heard how Cove drove past his ex-partner’s home beeping his horn, turned up there ‘unannounced’, made late night calls to her and 'bombarded' her with insulting texts.
On one occasion, on August 14, 2023, Cove sent his ex-partner a 'pornographic clip' and a message saying, ‘bell me, going mad’.
Mr Blain told the court the ex-partner found the contact ‘disturbing and upsetting’, but acknowledged some of her messages back to Cove had been ‘unpleasant’ too.
Mitigating, Laura Deuxberry noted her client had ‘expressed remorse’ for the breaches.
She also said Cove was caring for his unwell mother, and that him going to prison would impact her ‘phenomenally’.
Mr Recorder Barry McElduff told the defendant: “It looks as if you couldn’t help yourself, with the short bursts of getting in contact with [the ex-partner] and that is what you have to cut out moving forward.
“She said in her statement, she just wants you to leave her alone. The relationship is over, you need to get that in your head.”
Cove, of Church Close in Bridport, was handed an eight-month prison sentence suspended for two years.
A new restraining order was also made for the ex-partner, lasting for a period of two years.
Mr Recorder Barry McElduff warned the defendant: “If you come before the court again, having had this warning today, you will go to prison, because these breaches cause stress and anguish to your former partner.”
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