A JILTED man bombarded his ex with texts, stalked her and said he wanted to smash her new boyfriend’s face while she worked under pressure as a nurse during the coronavirus crisis.

Daniel Gurney of Liverpool Road, Ronkswood, Worcester admitted assaulting his ex in her home when he appeared before magistrates in Worcester on Friday.

The 37-year-old father-of-two pushed his head into hers, backing her up against a wall during the assault on June 6 this year. He also pleaded guilty to stalking without violence between March 1 and June 7 this year and three separate breaches of a non-molestation order. The stalking involved him ‘bombarding’ his ex with text messages and phone calls and turning up at her house uninvited and refusing to leave when asked.

The first breach involved Gurney using a third party to pass messages to her between April 30 and May 17. The second involved him contacting her at her Kempsey home on June 7 and the third involved him communicating with her at Powick on June 5.

Tim Talbot-Webb, prosecuting, said the victim described Gurney as ‘someone who has something of an obsessive personality’ and ‘problems with addiction to gambling’. She ended the relationship last February and in May met somebody else. “The defendant has taken that very badly,” he said.

This was at a time when Ms Gurney was working in hospital during the coronavirus crisis and a ‘particularly stressful time for her professionally'. Gurney told her ‘let’s get back together for the sake of the kids’. Mr Talbot-Webb said: “The amount of text messages was relentless.”

The assault happened after Gurney arrived at her house, let himself in and found her in the garden with her new boyfriend. “He was shouting ‘get him out of here now! I want to smash his face in!’” said Mr Talbot-Webb.

“No injuries were caused but it frightened her” he said.

Gurney had no previous convictions, had entered timely guilty pleas and no longer gambles. His later guilty plea to the assault prevented his ex having to come to court to give evidence.

Mark Sheward, defending, said: “It’s tragic in some ways because it’s the breakdown of a 17 year relationship where two people met and fell in love and married and had children.”

The case was adjourned until August 17 for a report from the probation service.

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