A STUDENT who bombarded his ex-girlfriend with messages after they broke up has been given a 12-month community order and told to do 80 hours of unpaid work.

Prosecutor Kate Prince told Swindon magistrates that Joseph Simpson was the victim’s first boyfriend and the relationship had started three years before when she was 16. It had ended in August last year.

“Throughout their time together he was emotionally abusive towards her,” said Ms Prince. She complained he was controlling and became aggressive on one occasion.

The victim received messages from him on social media so she blocked him.

Then at the end of September he sent her a video of one of his friends involved in a sex act.

She warned him she would go to the police but on October 2 she was bombarded with messages and calls from him. Police documented 15 calls between 6am and 6.43am and 44 messages on WhatsApp.

“She felt he just wasn’t leaving her alone,” said Ms Prince.

Ten days later she took a call from an unknown number to find he was on the other end and was laughing.

Simpson, 23, of Bourne Road, admitted harassment without violence and was made the subject of a one-year restraining order.

Ellen McAnaw, defending, said Simpson admitted he struggled to come to terms with the end of the relationship and had made a number of unwanted phone calls seeking forgiveness.

"He is sorry for the way he behaved. It has been a massive wake-up call for him,” she said.

He had also learned that in the future if a relationship broke down he should just accept it.

Simpson, who lived with his parents, was currently at New College and was due to take up a place at the University of the West of England in September to study business management and accounting.

He also worked part time as a delivery driver and was part of a volunteering programme teaching maths to other students.