A Carlisle man has been given a curfew after he admitted bombarding his ex-girlfriend with 83 calls and left threatening voicemails.
Mark Anthony Presley pleaded guilty to harassment without violence at an earlier hearing after the offence on November 3 last year in Carlisle. He also admitted a similar offence between August 29 and September 12 last year in Newcastle and Whitehaven.
The November offence related to the 30-year-old continuously calling and texting his ex-partner.
The court in Carlisle heard today that he made about 83 calls and threatened to harm the woman.
He also sent more than 90 threatening messages to a close relative. The court was told the victim on this occasion had already told Presley not to phone her at work and only answered several of the 90 calls.
Magistrates were told some of the calls were made while Presley was in a mental health facility, firstly in Newcastle and then Whitehaven.
Presley told the court his address was his mother’s on Prescott Road in the Longsowerby area of Carlisle, but he is expected to move to Cumberland Court in the city, in a matter of weeks.
John Smith, on behalf of Presley, explained the defendant has genuine mental health issues, he suffered a mental breakdown when a relationship with his now ex-partner ended and that most of the calls were made in relation to contact with his family.
After lengthy deliberations the magistrates sentenced Presley to a community order requiring him to be under curfew at his home address between the hours of 7pm and 7am for eight weeks.
He was also fined £80, told to pay prosecuting costs of £170 and a victim surcharge of £95.
A restraining order was also imposed that he must not contact his former partner for the next 12 months. The court was told he was already serving a community order and he was working with the probation service.
