Yahoo News Desperate bloke bombarded ex with calls then set upon man who told him to stop
A man who could not accept his relationship was over bombarded his ex with phone calls and messages when she insisted they were done.
Thomas Dodd, 31, also attacked a man she was staying with and assaulted his ex after she left her home in Barrow-in-Furness. Preston Crown Court heard the couple had been together for around 18 months when the woman broke it off in June 2024.
On June 21 the woman returned home to find Dodd in her bed and his father on the sofa. She had not given them permission to be in her home, but feeling she had nowhere left to go she went to stay at a friend's house.
The following day, Dodd asked to speak to her. Her friend went to try to persuade Dodd to stop contacting her, but when they met in a car park, Dodd attacked him. He punched the man to his face, kicked him and pinned him down on the ground.
Dodd's ex saw what was happening and went to intervene but Dodd grabbed her by the arm, causing a bruise. The man suffered an injury to his nose and eye socket, but no broken bones.
Dodd, of Warwick Road, Barrow-in-Furness, was arrested later that day and told the police the man had approached him with a knife. He said: "I was scared for my life." However he later abandoned the claim and pleaded guilty to GBH and common assault.
Dodd was bailed with conditions not to contact his former partner, but he ignored the warning. He made around 50 calls or texts to the woman in the three days following his arrest. By July 23, his calls had become threatening and he was arrested on suspicion of stalking and remanded in custody.
In a victim impact statement, the woman said: "Thomas Dodd destroyed my life. I have completely lost my identity and confidence after being lied to and manipulated for 18 months.
"I have lost all sense of self and have zero confidence. I can't communicate anymore, I am frightened all the time and my life will never be okay."
The court heard Dodd had been schooled in a pupil referral unit and had achieved a number of GCSEs before becoming an apprentice at BAE systems. While in prison he has completed courses and is keen to return to engineering following his release.
Judge Richard Gioserano, sentencing, said: "I have read your presentence report and all about you and have not always had it easy yourself. But you are 31 now, you are not 21.
"You are supposed to be a mature adult who can control his emotions, not just when things are going well but when they aren't going well. I hope the last three and a half months in Preston prison have given you pause for thought and I also hope you have no desire to go back there. We shall see how keen you are to go back to prison."
He sentenced Dodd to 12 months suspended for two years with 30 days rehabilitation activities, a program requirement and made a five year restraining order. The judge warned Dodd that if he breaches the restraining order at any point in the next five years he risks going to prison.
