A JEALOUS boyfriend bombarded his ex with hundreds of texts and phone calls in a three month campaign, a court heard.

Matthew Planner, 21, also loitered around her home and workplace in Ferndown, smashed her phone and slashed her tyres, and threatened to show explicit photographs to her family and colleagues.

Prosecuting, Roderick Blain said: “The defendant was in a relationship with the complainant for a relatively short period of time.

“There came a time when she decided she would end the relationship. She felt the defendant was being controlling over her in such a manner that it was affecting her relationships with both her family and other friends.”

During their break-up in September last year, the court heard, Planner and the complainant got into an argument when she visited his home to pick up her belongings, during the course of which he pushed her.

“She described a push with his hands, your honour can see from the basis of plea he refers to ‘ushering’,” said Mr Blain.

“She fell into the fridge, she suffered no injury and made no complaint at that time.”

Over the next three months he made more than 500 calls to her from his own phone, and when she blocked this he switched to social media. When she blocked these accounts, he used fake accounts to continue his campaign.

On one occasion he called at her home and called her a “slut” and a “slag” when turned away.

“She said in terms of the volume of calls, it was somewhere between 20 to 30 times each day,” said Mr Blain.

In a victim impact statement, the victim said Planner’s behaviour had left her “paranoid” that he was following her around, or looking into her bedroom window.

Planner, of Kinson Avenue, admitted one count of stalking involving serious alarm/distress and one count of assault by beating. The court heard he had no previous convictions.

In mitigation, Tom Wilkins said: “It is clear this behaviour was wholly out of character as far as his relationships with women are concerned.

“Both his current and former girlfriends make clear he has never behaved in any way like this and has never been violent towards them.”

He said the defendant was keen to “put this behind him” and start a new job in Australia.

Judge Peter Johnson sentenced Planner to a 12 month community order with 200 hours unpaid work, and passed a restraining order.

“You said you want to make a completely fresh start on the other side of the world,” he said. “I’m not going to interfere with that. But you will pay a price for what you have done.”

Planner was also ordered to pay £400 compensation to his victim and £760 court costs.