England–
Sending text messages, in some contexts, can be considered stalking or abuse. In general, I don’t take this very seriously–we often get ominous reports of a man violating a domestic violence restraining order when it turns out that all he did was text message his ex about child pickup or drop-off arrangements. Still, the case below is enough to qualify–a 23-year-old woman text messaged her ex-boyfriend 10,783 times in 65 days.
Wayne, a reader, for sending me the story below. Wayne writes:
“She got no actual punishment, but I’ll bet that was a very stern finger wagging she received. She may have even got a ‘withering glare’ from the magistrate. A man would be in jail, charged with stalking. She violated the order at least once already.”
Boyfriend takes jilted ex to court after she bombarded him with 10,000 texts
A bitter ex-girlfriend bombarded her former lover with 10,000 abusive phone and text messages in just 65 days – an average of one every eight minutes.
Obsessed Lee Amor, 23, called or texted Timothy Mortimore 10,783 times after falling pregnant by another man – but convinced herself the baby was his.
Amor sent him used pregnancy tests and and left a bottle of urine on his doorstep in an attempt to show him he was the father of her unborn child.
She loitered outside his home, followed him and his current partner by car, approached him at work demanding they talk, sent a piece of glass she had used to cut herself and made gestures of self-harm in front of him.
But Amor walked free from court after pleading guilty to harassment between July 28 and September 30 last year “in texting, sending mobile video messages, telephone calls, and in person”, contrary to a warning issued on July 28.
She was given a conditional discharge for two years, told to pay £200 costs and made the subject of a restraining order which bars her from contacting him or approaching his home in Torquay, Devon.
In a statement to the court, Timothy Mortimore said: “It has caused me physical and emotional fatigue. I did not want to see her.
“I wish this constant pressure to stop so I can lead a normal life with my current partner.”
Speaking after the hearing, Timothy, a home electronics store manager, said his ex girlfriend made his life a “nightmare”.
He said: “It has been a hard seven months and I just want to put it behind me. No-one can imagine what a nightmare this has been.
“I think the sentence is sufficient. I did not want to get her into trouble with the law but this was the last resort when she was knocking on the door day and night.
“I had no choice. She needs help and I tried to get it for her.”
South Devon Magistrates Court in Torquay heard Amor had fallen pregnant after they broke up following a six month relationship and was convinced it was her former partner’s.
John Watson, prosecuting, said she had been issued with a warning by officers about her behaviour in July but went on to contact him an “astronomical” number of times.
He said: “They had broken up in June and she had taken it very badly, and it appeared to be over an ex-boyfriend.
“On September 29 she did something bizarre. She appeared to be making gestures of self-harm to her wrists.”
When police were called they found Amor close to Mr Mortimore’s home and after examining her phone logs found a high volume of calls and texts to his numbers.
Mr Watson added: “Between July and September this came to an astronomical total of 10,843, many abusive or threatening self-harm.
“Over the space of 65 days this means on average she was making contact once every eight minutes.
“In interview, Amor admitted to police she had also sent him items through the post, including pregnancy tests. It was an attempt to prove she was pregnant and it was his child she was pregnant with.
“That did not appear to be true and Mr Mortimore has refuted that.”
John Smethurst, defending, said she had started contacted her ex-boyfriend when she believed her baby was his and he would not talk to her.
He said: “At the time she thought it was his child but it is not. She thought it was his and he just dropped her and refused to have anything to do with her.
“She was upset and wanted to talk to him about it and has over used the telephone but she had a reason for doing so.”
Read the full article here.