An "obsessive" man, from Hertfordshire, who threatened to post sexual images of a teenage girl on the internet has been jailed for 13 weeks for breaking a court order linked to a suspended sentence.
Mathew Mallaghan, 21, of Bishop's Stortford had been ordered never to contact the girl and was told he would be jailed if he did so when he was sentenced at St Albans Crown Court in June.
But within three months he was again sending the girl social media messages where were described by his lawyer as a bid "to establish some kind of relationship" and not intended to be a threat.
Judge Andrew Bright QC said "the effect has been to cause the girl great distress and anxiety".
Mallaghan, who had been living at the YMCA, admitted breaching the terms of the restraining order, breaching the suspended sentence and failing to attend court on 30 January. He had already spent five weeks in jail and described the experience as "difficult and isolating".
Defending, Corinne Bramwell said Mallagan had difficulty dealing with his "obsessive" behaviour and suffered "a terrible sense of guilt' for what happened.