Notts woman's barrage of 'vile' calls and texts to ex

A Nottinghamshire woman who bombarded her ex-partner with 'vindictive' and 'vile' texts and calls has been warned she will be jailed if she continues, a court heard.
Mansfield Magistrates Court.Mansfield Magistrates Court.
Mansfield Magistrates Court.

Prosecutor Donna Fawcett said their 20-year relationship had been “on and off” and “volatile”, but ended in January 2017, leaving Kelly Swainston with Council Tax and rent arrears.

She contacted her ex on his work and personal mobile phones, forcing him to change them, and accused him of being a thief, a liar and a paedophile on a Nottingham City Homes online message board for reviewing tradespeople.

She was warned to stop by police in April, but the calls to her ex-partner and his new girlfriend resumed 24 hours later,.

“They were bombarded with a multitude of messages of a fairly vile nature, which were obsessed with the issue of money, which seems to be why she keeps contacting him,” said Ms Fawcett.

When police checked his phone, there were 109 answer-phone messages and 446 texts from her, Ms Fawcett added, with 200 pages of messages, sent between July 25, 2017 and June 19, 2018.

Kelly Swainston, 39, of Seely Avenue, Calverton, admitted harassment when she appeared at Mansfield Magistrates Court, on Wednesday.

Chris Perry, mitigating, said the financial trouble she had been left in caused her “great anger and frustration.”

“Everything that has happened is something that she reacted to,” he said. “She wanted to right the wrongs. She has just gone about it in the wrong way.”

District judge Jonathan Taaffe said: “While I accept there are always two sides to every matter - particularly in a relationship - this goes way beyond you simply exercising your rights.

“It’s vindictive, it’s nasty and it’s designed to cause problems for your ex-partner.”

He handed her a two year conditional discharge and warned her that if she repeated the behaviour, she would face jail.

A five year restraining order was imposed, and costs of £85 and a £20 government surcharge were ordered.