He also said that he was “going to have massive fun” burning her possessions
A vindictive social media bully posted “abusive” messages about his ex-girlfriend and cruelly taunted her that he was going to have “massive fun” burning belongings of hers that he still had. Mean-minded Reece Sugden tried to encourage other people to join in the online abuse of the woman and asked that, if anyone also wanted “to have fun burning my ex’s stuff”, then they should let him know.
He had earlier slapped her in the face after she found a distasteful video on his phone, Hull Crown Court heard. Sugden, 20, of Hessle Road, west Hull, admitted offences of assaulting the woman between November 1 and 30, 2023 as well as stalking her between March 1 and May 18 last year.
Ryan Donoghue, prosecuting, said that Sugden and the woman met on an online dating app in October 2023 and they began to meet a short time later. She lived with him at his home for a time.
The relationship was initially good but she later found material on his phone which caused her concern. In November of that year, the woman confronted Sugden about what she had found and told him that she would tell his mother about it.
When she tried to write a message to his mother about the video that she had found, he grabbed her phone from her hand and, when she asked for it back, he slapped her in the face once, causing reddening.
“She was unable to hear out of her ear for a period of time,” said Mr Donoghue. “She explained that this was the only time that he had used any physical violence towards her.”
After Sugden slapped her, he deleted the message from her phone. The relationship continued into last year until they separated in March of that year.
There was later a period of ongoing contact between them because Sugden still had some of her belongings in his possession. He accessed her email accounts and sent repeated messages to her on social media, including putting out abusive posts about her and encouraging others to do the same.
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One of them said: “Everyone message this b****face. She is a c*** and the world would be better without her.” There were similar posts on other accounts and a post saying: “I want her to unblock me.”
He also said that he was “going to have massive fun” burning her possessions – and asking that if anyone wanted “to have fun burning my ex’s stuff” they should “let me know”.
Amber Hobson, mitigating, asked for Sugden to be given a community order. He had no previous convictions and had pleaded guilty.
Judge John Thackray KC told Sugden: “This was very unpleasant behaviour by you following the break-up of the relationship and you should be thoroughly ashamed of yourself.
“Try to make sure there is no repetition of this offending during future relationships.” Sugden was given 20 days’ rehabilitation and a five-year restraining order.