A SKIPTON man who sent more than 40 unwanted text messages to a woman who he felt had abruptly ended their relationship felt ‘extremely bruised and hurt’, heard magistrates.

Alasdair Cumberworth, 42, repeatedly messaged the woman over two days shortly after she ended their brief relationship by text in January this year, Skipton Magistrates Court was told yesterday (Friday).

The messages became increasingly offensive and included him claiming he was related to a police officer in charge of serious crime at New Scotland Yard and had access to the woman’s records.

He also accused her of stealing a pair or earrings, telling her that he would report her to the police, and referred to her having mental health issues.

Prosecuting, Nadine Clough, said the couple had started a relationship in November, last year. The woman was a recovering alcoholic and had previously been in an abusive relationship. Cumberworth had told her he did not drink, but she knew he had a previous issue with alcohol.

Miss Clough said alarm bells had rung with the woman just before Christmas over things he had said, such as him wanting a drink, and she decided to end the relationship in early January, telling him by text.

The woman eventually blocked his messages and warned him she would tell the police.

In a victim personal statement the woman said she had felt intimidated by his messages, that she had had sleepless nights, felt unsafe in her house, and that she was suffering nightmares.

Cumberworth, a Microsoft transformation specialist, admitted harassment without violence between January 4 and January 7. He believed they had a future together and her ending their relationship had come ‘completely out of the blue’, the court heard.

John Mewies, in mitigation, said the couple had met on the internet and it had been a ‘full on, passionate relationship’ from the word go.

They had spent Christmas together, he had cooked lunch for the woman and her mother, and they had talked about cohabiting before she had peremptorily ended the relationship, he said.

When she had texted him to tell him, Cumberworth perhaps understandably wanted to know how she had come to that decision, said Mr Mewies.

Responding to a request from the woman for a restraining order, Mr Mewies said: "This man wants nothing more to do with this lady, he feels extremely bruised and hurt.”

Cumberworth, of Southey Street, was told by magistrates that they always took matters of harassment seriously, whether they were physical or verbal.

He was fined £923 and ordered to pay costs of £85 and a surcharge of £92. Magistrates also agreed to a restraining order, barring Cumberworth from contacting the woman directly or indirectly, by any means, including on social media, for three months.