'Obsessed' Leeds University student bombarded ex while making suicide threats
A student attacked her ex partner and bombarded her with hundreds of messages and phones calls after the victim ended their relationship.
Freya Timms also grabbed the fellow student around her throat during one of many arguments, Leeds Crown Court was told.
The 20-year-old admitted charges of common assault and stalking.
From around May last year the pair, who both attended Leeds University, started a relationship which lasted around nine months.
They had split up several times due to persistent arguments, prosecutor Robert Galley told the court.
A friend of the victim became concerned and reported matters to the police in February of this year.
The victim received around 100 calls and messages in a single day and during an argument in February, Timms had grabbed the woman by the throat which left her struggling to breathe.
The victim made it clear that she wanted to end the relationship, but she continued to be bombarded with messages across various social media platforms.
Timms was arrested and later bailed but ignored conditions not to contact the woman.
She would send messages to the victim telling her she would take her own life, and even if she was blocked, she would then send messages from other platforms.
By June, the victim was “overwhelmed” by the incessant contact, so contacted the police.
Timms, of Apple Tree Way, Rochdale, Lancashire, was arrested and interviewed. She accepted grabbing the complainant by the throat but denied stalking her.
In a victim impact statement read by Mr Galley, the woman said she was left suffering sleepless nights, anxiety and panic attacks.
Mitigating, Charlotte Baines said Timms has no previous convictions, was just 20 and was hoping to get back into higher education.
She said: “She knows that the relationship is well and truly over.”
Judge Robin Mairs told Timms: “You were controlling and obsessive, that’s clear from the calls and messages.
“There was a barrage of calls and texts using emotional blackmail. It affected her mental health and her academic career.”
He gave Timms a two-year community order, and ordered her complete 20 rehabilitation days with probation and a 26-session accredited behaviour course.
She also gave her a 10-year restraining order to keep her away from the victim.