Whitwell woman got threatening messages

A two-year restraining order was imposed on Ashley Bradbury last November, when he was jailed for four months for attacking Rachel Wrigglesworth.

But he started contacting her again in March, sending her 20 text messages in one day, Chesterfield magistrates heard.

Sarah Haslam, prosecuting, said he had been ‘jealous and controlling’ during the two-year relationship and assaulted Ms Wrigglesworth while she was pregnant.

She ended the relationship and he attacked her. After coming out of prison he contacted her regarding their child and his text messages ‘became more nasty’, said Mrs Haslam.

He turned up at her home on 24th March and shouted through a letter box: ‘I know you have someone in there’.

He sent her 20 text messages the following day.

She found him in her kitchen on another occasion and, on 9th July, he approached her in the street and shouted: ‘You should burn.’

“He said to her: ‘I will always be in your life. I’ll never go away. There’s nothing you can do about it’,” said Mrs Haslam.

“She felt scared and says he grinds her down. She was trying to rebuild her life and he was taking it away from her and constantly harassing her.”

Bradbury, 23, of Town End, Bolsover, admitted breaching a restraining order between 23rd-31st March and on 9th July. He had previously assaulted her twice and damaged her property.

He was given a one-year probation supervision order and 120 hours unpaid work, with £85 costs.

The bench also imposed a new, two-year restraining order prohibiting him from contacting Ms Wrigglesworth or going to her home in High Street, Whitwell.

“He wasn’t given a copy of the restraining order when he was jailed. He says he was in a mess at the time,” said Kevin Tomlinson, for Bradbury.

“They had exchanged text messages over a period of time and she acknowledges that. While she says his messages were unwanted they were often in response to messages she had sent him and often not of a threatening nature.”