A drunk ex-boyfriend defaced his former partner's car before sending threatening voice notes after she refused to let him in her home. Thomas O'Connor, 40, carved the word s**g onto her car outside her home in Rochdale and threatened to get 'his people' involved, after their relationship ended badly.
The pair had met online nine months prior but things quickly turned sour after the woman's ex-partner got involved, Tameside Magistrates' Court heard.
After turning up uninvited to his ex-partner's house on April 27 this year, the court heard that the woman refused to let O'Connor in, prompting him to lose his temper. Prosecutor Laura Peers told JPs that O'Connor had spent the day drinking to get over the break-up - something he wouldn't usually do due to his 'mental health issues.'
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"He said he would come to her address which she believed he would follow through with. He then turned up and demanded to be let in but the complainant refused," Ms Peers said. "The defendant then pulled out a yellow screwdriver and began to stab at the windows. The defendant then walked back and began to damage her car.
"He accepted that he caused the damage but he said it was with a key and not a screwdriver. The defendant etched the words s**g on to her car. He then walked away from the address and left the area."
The court heard that O'Connor later sent several voice notes to his ex-girlfriend threatening to get 'his people' involved and return to her home. In a victim impact statement read to the court, the woman said: "Since meeting the defendant he has ruined my life. The emotional impact on myself has been immeasurable."
O'Connor, who has a number of previous convictions and was said to have spent most of his life in prison, admitted offences of harassment and criminal damage.
His defence barrister, Rob Stewart told the court his client accepted full responsibility for his actions and said he had arrived at his ex-partner's house to collect some of his belongings. "They met over the internet nine months prior and formed a relationship. They were in the process of having social services see if the complainant's children could live with the defendant as a result of his previous convictions," Mr Stewart said.
"That triggered her ex to be notified and that caused a great amount of stress in the relationship as he threatened to stop the complainant seeing the children.
"That was of great disappointment to the defendant. He went and got drunk. He doesn’t normally drink because of his mental health.
"He went to the address as all his belongings were there including his antipsychotic medication. He was clearly upset about what had taken place."
O'Connor, of Carrswood Road, Manchester, was sentenced to an 18-month community order by at Tameside Magistrates Court and ordered to complete a 35-day rehabilitation requirement.
He was also made the subject of a alcohol abstinence monitoring requirement and ordered to pay £900 compensation to his victim. O'Connor was also banned from contacting her for the next 18 months.
Sentencing, JPs said: "You have realised that your behaviour on that day was terrible. You need to find other ways of dealing with your issues. You are lucky we have gone down this route."
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