A jilted lover who left his ex-partner “drained and broken” by bombarding her with thousands of messages, calls and voicemails has been placed on supervision.
William Hutton admitted engaging in a course of conduct likely to cause his former girlfriend to suffer fear or alarm.
Perth Sheriff Court heard the 33-year-old sent a torrent of WhatsApp texts, emails and calls to his ex between March and May 2020.
The messages came after she ended their 14-month relationship, the court was told.
Sheriff Euan Duthie ordered Hutton to engage with the Caledonian Programme, a three-pronged programme aimed at tackling domestic abuse.
He will also be supervised for two years.
The sheriff agreed not to impose a non-harassment order.
Twenty emails a day
In a period of just two months, Hutton made around 1,000 phone calls to his ex.
He also sent her 600 emails and left around 150 voicemail messages.
Fiscal depute Michael Sweeney told the court: “The accused did not take the break-up well.
“She decided to block the accused due to the sheer amount of messages she received.
“She made it abundantly clear she wished no further contact.”
He said: “She received countless call, around 15 a day.
“There was the same volume of voicemails.
“He was mostly declaring his love for her and asking to speak to her.
“She believed he was making threats to harm himself.
“She was getting 20 emails on a daily basis.
“The complainer described herself as drained and broken.”
The prosecutor said: “It caused a huge amount of stress and anxiety and had a detrimental effect on her general health.”
Derogatory comments
Hutton, 33, of Cairns Place, Perth, admitted sending his ex-partner messages and voicemails on a daily basis, despite being told to stop.
The charge states he repeatedly told her he loved her and wanted to resume the relationship, as well as making threats to harm himself.
Towards the end of his tirade, Hutton asked if the woman was in contact with other men and made derogatory comments about her male friends.
He also contacted a friend of the woman’s “repeatedly” and attempted to get her to put the two in contact.
Hutton also sent the friend screenshots of men and asked if his former partner had been in contact with them.
