A 'REVENGE porn' victim has spoken out after his ex-fiancee walked free from court despite admitting sending explicit images of him to a friend.

Self-employed Andy Chapman said he was left "embarrassed and ashamed" after former partner Sheila Thompson launched a three-month campaign of "spiteful behaviour" against him following their split last year.

He decided to go to police after Thompson, of Christchurch Road in Boscombe, used social network Facebook to target his business, writing on the company's page that Mr Chapman is a "tranny ****".

At Bournemouth Magistrates' Court in early March, Thompson, 51, admitted disclosing private sexual photographs with intent to cause distress on September 25 2015.

She was sentenced to a 12-month conditional discharge, a £15 victim surcharge and to pay costs of £85 to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

Mr Chapman said: "I wish she'd pleaded not guilty so it would have been a trial.

"At least that way, I'd have had my voice heard. There's been no chance for justice for me.

"That sentence is not justice."

Mr Chapman said Thompson "turned nasty" in August 2015, the month after the couple split.

Although he stored a number of her possessions and even gave her the use of his work van, her behaviour towards him became malicious, and Mr Chapman attributes a number of incidents of vandalism to his ex.

Finally, in September last year, Thompson sent three photographs of Mr Chapman taken during their 18-month relationship to one of his friends.

Mr Chapman said: "She was just so vindictive and spiteful.

"I'm lucky because I have great friends who have stuck by me for the whole ordeal, but I've been left a real mess.

"I'm still on antidepressants. Every time I hear a noise I feel paranoid and anxious.

"It's been awful."

But he said he'd had great support from both the police and the CPS, and urged other victims to speak out.

"Anyone who's going through something like this should speak to the police," he said.

WHERE TO GET HELP

The South West Grid for Learning's Revenge Porn Helpline launched in February 2015, and has received almost 3,500 calls in that time.

Operations manager Laura Higgins said that although any victim of revenge porn can call the helpline, three-quarters of all calls are made by women.

"That's concerning to us," she said.

"When men do come to us, they really are in a lot of distress, and it's often got really out of hand. We think there are stigmas related to the male victims of this type of offending."

But the service can offer a great deal of support to victims, including pro bono legal advice.

Representatives work with companies including Google, Facebook and Twitter to ensure that, when possible, images are removed as quickly as possible.

Laura said: "We will always fight for victims."