A Birmingham man who bombarded his former girlfriend’s Facebook page with abusive messages has been given a suspended prison sentence.
District Judge Jabbitt said Nicholas McGreachan’s behaviour had been persistent but took into account his guilty plea.
McGreachan, (21), of Gildas Avenue, Kings Norton, who had previously admitted a charge of harassment was sentenced to ten weeks imprisonment suspended for 12 months and ordered to do 100 hours unpaid work and pay £85 costs.
Helen Shipley, prosecuting, told Birmingham Magistrates court that Leanne McWilliams had been in a seven-month relationship with McGreachan which finally came to an end in the early part of this year.
After not having heard from the defendant for about two weeks her mobile phone began ringing on January 23 at around 2am.
When she answered it a male spoke to her, said he was back in Birmingham and began to insult her.
She disconnected the call but the phone rang repeatedly and when she answered it again she recognised the voice of McGreachan who again was abusive.
Miss Shipley said Miss McWilliams then logged onto her Facebook page and saw that a friend of the defendant had left 24 separate messages between 1am and 2.40am.
“They were all of a similar nature. All were abusive, calling her various inappropriate names,” she said.
Later she received a phone call from the friend saying McGreachan was sorry and she later blocked her Facebook page so the defendant could not gain access to it.
When later interviewed by police, McGreachan said that he was drunk when he used a friend’s Facebook account to send the messages and that he did not intend her to be harassed.
Alan Clarke, defending, said McGreachan, who had a lengthy and appalling criminal record, had in recent times made a concerted effort to keep out of trouble.
He said he accepted his behaviour had been unpleasant and unacceptable and that there had been unresolved emotional issues between him and the victim.
