Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Textual harassment: Boyfriend takes jilted ex to court after she bombards him with 10,000 texts

When Timothy Mortimore broke up with his girlfriend, he expected to have nothing more to do with her.
Lee Amor had other ideas.

She used her mobile phone to contact him more than 10,000 times in 65 days – the equivalent of once every eight minutes.

The 23-year-old called or texted Mr Mortimore relentlessly after they split up and she became pregnant.
Wrongly convinced the baby was his, Amor sent her 37-year-old ex-boyfriend used pregnancy tests and even left a bottle of urine on his doorstep in an apparent attempt to show him he was the father.

She waited outside his home, followed him and his new partner by car, and approached him at the electronics store which he manages, demanding his attention.
At South Devon Magistrates' Court, a heavily-pregnant Amor admitted harassment "in texting, sending mobile video messages, telephone calls, and in person", contrary to a previous warning.

She was given a two-year conditional discharge, told to pay £200 costs and made the subject of a restraining order barring her from contacting or approaching Mr Mortimore at his home in Torquay.
In a statement to the court, Mr Mortimore said the experience had caused him "physical and emotional fatigue", adding: "I wish this constant pressure to stop so I can lead a normal life with my current partner."


Timothy Mortimore


John Watson, prosecuting, said the couple broke up in June after a six-month relationship and Amor 'took it very badly'.
She was warned about her behaviour by police in July but went on to contact Mr Mortimore an "astronomical" number of times.
When police were called they found Amor close to Mr Mortimore's home and after examining her phone logs found a high volume of calls and texts to his numbers.
"Between July and September this came to an astronomical total of 10,843, many abusive or threatening self-harm.
"She admitted to police she had also sent him items through the post, including pregnancy tests.
"It was an attempt to prove she was pregnant and it was his child she was pregnant with. That did not appear to be true and Mr Mortimore has refuted that."
John Smethurst, defending, said Amor, of Brixham, admitted the calls but denied hanging around his house, claiming she happened to be in the area.
"Many of the calls were failed calls, because the network was busy, or he did not answer or pick up."
The indefinite ban stops Amor having any contact with Mr Mortimore at his home or work, either by phone, letter, fax or email.
Magistrates warned Amor she could face a severe jail sentence if she breaches the order.
After the hearing, Mr Mortimore said his ex-girlfriend had made his life a nightmare. He added: "It has been a hard seven months and I just want to put it behind me.
"No one can imagine what a nightmare this has been.
"I think the sentence is sufficient. I did not want to get her into trouble with the law but this was the last resort.
"I had no choice. She needs help and I tried to get it for her.
"She was knocking on my door morning, noon and night. It was relentless.
"The 10,000 calls and texts were just to one mobile, the tip of the iceberg.
"There was also a constant stream to land lines and work.
"She needs help – badly. I didn't want to go to the police but she left me no choice."

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