A CONTROLLING boyfriend who sent threatening and abusive Whatsapp messages to his ex-partner, causing her to fear for her safety, has been sentenced.

Jack Robert Roberts, of Goldcoft Avenue in Weymouth, aged 21, appeared in Weymouth Magistrates Court for sentencing on Thursday, July 7, this year after pleading guilty to two counts of sending communications of an indecent or offensive nature and one count of possessing a controlled Class B drug.

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Prosecuting, Siobhan Oxley, said that the victim and the defendant were in a relationship with each other.

A statement from the victim was read out to the court. Ms Oxley said that victim started seeing Roberts in May 2021 after meeting him on an online dating app.

She said the when they started dating it was 'lovely' and that the pair saw each other almost everyday.

However, the court heard that Roberts soon became 'controlling' and would want to know everyone the victim was in contact with and wanted to know what she was doing all the time.

Ms Oxley said the defendant would accuse the victim of lying and started 'putting her down' and even tried to stop her seeing her mother.

The victim statement said that as the relationship went on, Roberts became more aggressive and angry.

The two counts of sending communications of an indecent or offensive nature relate to messages Roberts sent to the victim via Whatsapp on January 23 and February 6 this year.

Ms Oxley read out the messages which were sent to the court which contained swearing, offensive and threatening comments towards both the victim and her mother.

In the messages read out to court, Roberts called the victim a 'nasty little c***', threatened to kill the victim's mother and told the victim she would regret the day that she 'ditched' him.

Roberts said: "From the bottom of my heart I hope you die painfully."

He also told her: "You have ruined my life and I will ruin yours before I leave Weymouth."

Ms Oxley said the messages caused the victim distress and made her fear for her safety so she called the police.

On February 6, police attended the defendant's address and found him to be in possession of a shoe box full of cannabis which he said was for personal use.

In interview, Roberts admitted that he had a drug problem and was thinking without consequences for others.

'He is really sorry for what he said'

The court heard that Roberts had no previous convictions and came before the court with good character.

Mitigating, Simon Lacey, told the court that Roberts was a man who was 'struggling' with his mental health.

He said he had been taking positive steps in the right direction and was engaging with services and had stopped smoking cannabis.

Mr Lacey said: "He understands the harm he has done and he does not want to do it again."

He added that Roberts had admitted to everything to police and was fully cooperative with them and had expressed remorse.

"He is really sorry for what he said," said Mr Lacey.

Chair of the bench, Peter Gibson, sentenced Roberts to a 12-month community order and he must undertake 140 hours of unpaid work.

A 12-month restraining order was made banning Roberts from contacting his ex partner or her mother, directly or indirectly.

Roberts must also pay a victim surcharge of £95 and £85 towards court costs.