A FORKLIFT driver destroyed an ex-partner by posting sex videos of her on the internet.Lee Francis Ball, 39, sent messages to her friends with links to the material, causing her serious psychological harm, Cardiff Crown Court heard.
As part of a nine-month long campaign, she was verbally abused, belittled, humiliated and eventually terrified when she found offensive sex messages written by him on the back door of her house.
Ball had left ‘disgusting and demeaning’ messages on Facebook, criticised her appearance, had cosmetic surgeons contact her, ordered Sky television in her name and sent her an abusive Valentine’s card.In court, where he was jailed for two years and banned from ever contacting the woman again, his defence team said he was ashamed and accepted what he had done had revealed some disturbing aspects to his own personality.
Lawyer Adam Sharpe said: ‘His messages were abusive and obscene and there were threats, although he had no intention of carrying them out.’He had failed to accept the break down of the relationship and became preoccopied by her to an unhealthy degree.’
When his own father found out what he had done to this poor lady, he was so shocked, he disowned him.’Prosecutor Gareth James said the couple had been together for some months before they argued and split up.Ball moved from Bridgend to live in the YMCA in Cardiff and she started receiving the messages.
Mr James told the court: ‘When they were together, she had confided her own worries about certain aspects of her appearance – they were her innermost feelings.’He knew the impact it would have to send messages about that.’
He wrote that she had loose morals and made her feel worthless.’When they were together she had agreed recordings be made as part of their sex life but those images were posted on the internet.’She had believed no other person would ever see them, let alone that they would be on the net and her friends would be sent the links.’
She became depressed, couldn’t sleep and is still frightened.’Her father says, ‘It’s hard seeing her like that because of someone we all trusted.”When the woman became so scared that she even stopped going out to the front of her home for a cigarette, choosing instead to stand by an open window at the back to smoke, Ball mentioned that too in his messages.’
She knew she was being watched’, Mr James said.Ball admitted harassment, a charge which became the 100th offence on his record.
His previous offending was said to have been completely different from this matter.Locking him up, Judge John Curran said: ‘This was a spiteful and calculated campaign which caused serious psychological harm in a particularly cruel way.’You bombarded her with messages, altered her account on Amazon, ordered Sky, contacted cosmetic surgeons, wrote menacing messages on her back door and posted sexual images of her.’
She was terrified you may come and injure her and took refuge with her parents.’This may not be absolutely the worst case of its kind but it is a bad one.’
Source. Walesonline.com
