Padgate dad-of-two broke injunction banning contact (From This Is Cheshire)

Padgate dad-of-two broke injunction banning contact

12:40pm Friday 19th March 2010

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A PADGATE father-of-two has been handed a 12-month supervision order after sending his ex-wife Facebook messages despite an injunction banning any contact.

Anthony Ratcliffe, of Jurby Court, used the social networking site to send 25 messages after seeing his former partner was in another relationship.

The couple had been in a relationship for six years and married for four before the marriage broke down and Ratcliffe’s wife obtained an injuction in July last year preventing him from contacting her.

But between October 10 and October 16, 2009, the 28-year-old sent a number of messages which were summarised as ‘criticising her conduct and saying he still loved her but no threats’.

David Jones, prosecuting, said: “They were typical messages following the breakdown of a marriage with the defendant clearly not coping well and saying that he missed and loved the complainant. There has been no further contact since.”

Chester Crown Court heard on Tuesday that the injunction ran out in January this year with no extension put in place and Ratcliffe had no previous convictions.

Nicholas Walker, defending, said: “The defendant has grown up and realised the relationship is over.

“His ex-wife had formed an attachment with someone else and the defendant could see on her profile page that she was not single any more which is one of the problems with this sort of social networking site.”

Judge Thomas Teague said: “Following the unfortunate break down of your marriage your wife obtained an injunction which you complied with for the first two months.

“Reading between the lines I think you probably realised she had someone else which led you to break the order.

“The original injunction has now expired, there has been no contact since and this case does not cross the custody threshold.”

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