A restraining order had been made in April after he admitted assaulting the woman
A jealous bully has finally been jailed after he became obsessed by the fear that his ex-wife could be seeing another man. Curtis Wedgner was originally spared prison as recently as April after he bombarded her with a barrage of messages and voice notes and also viciously assaulted her.
But he threw away his chance to avoid prison after continuing his nasty campaign against her in defiance of warnings that he could be locked up unless he stopped, Hull Crown Court heard. Wedgner, 42, of Inglewood Drive, Anlaby Common, admitted harassing the woman by sending unwanted emails on a series of occasions between July 16 and 25 and three offences of breaching a restraining order on July 22, 23 and 24. The restraining order had been made on April 7.
James O’Connor, prosecuting, said that, at the April hearing, Wedgner admitted assaulting the woman, causing actual bodily harm, on January 26 and harassing her between January 20 and 26. He had been given six months’ drug rehabilitation, a six-month exclusion zone order, 20 days’ rehabilitation and a probation service domestic abuse programme.
He was also given a five-year restraining order. But Wedgner continued to harass his ex-wife by sending abusive text messages to her.
She blocked his phone number but she started receiving emails from him. The emails contained “expletives and insults” and he repeatedly asked her to confirm whether she had a new boyfriend. Wedgner had convictions for 14 previous offences, including arson in 2000, public disorder in 2002 and 2008 and drink-driving in 2020.
Benjamin Donnell, mitigating, told the latest hearing that there was a “strong prospect” of Wedgner being rehabilitated despite him committing new offences in breach of the restraining order. The probation service was very happy with the progress that Wedgner had made and he had been engaging with a drug support agency.
He would be able to do a further course to tackle any concerns about further offending. Mr Donnell asked for Wedgner to be spared prison. Wedgner pleaded guilty at a hearing before Hull magistrates and he was working at a window manufacturing company.
Wedgner, who had been on bail, was jailed for 14 months. He must pay a £187 victims’ surcharge.
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At the previous hearing in April, the court was told that Wedgner and the woman began a relationship in 2022 and they later moved in together and got married. The relationship soon started to deteriorate because of Wedgner’s behaviour.
He was often jealous and he had a worsening cocaine addiction. The relationship came to an end but he continued to contact her and, during January, he was constantly texting and ringing her.
He tried to persuade her to get back together with him but he constantly accused her of seeing other men. Wedgner tried to manipulate her by making threats and, on January 20, there were many missed calls from him.
He suddenly appeared in her room, having let himself in to the house. He asked for a kiss and a cuddle but she refused. She was upset that the defendant had let himself in to the house but she was too scared to ask for the key back.
After that, she began leaving her key in the door to prevent him from getting in. Wedgner sent constant messages and made repeated calls over the next few days.
She went to bed at 10.30pm on January 25 but, throughout the night, he sent 49 messages and voice notes. He believed that she was seeing another man and that she had him at the house.
Wedgner made threats that he was coming for the man and he threatened to smash every window in the house. She was woken at 1am by the sound of Wedgner shouting outside the house.
He was pacing backwards and forwards and banging on windows. He continued shouting. The woman was terrified and immediately texted a friend and asked her to call the police.
She heard a smash and Wedgner forced the front door open. He shouted: “Where is he?” He grabbed the woman’s face and punched her on the forehead, causing a bump, while screaming at her.
He was pacing around the room. The police arrived and Wedgner told them that he had supposedly seen her on a camera with another man. He was arrested and was shouting. He later told police that he was angry because he believed that his wife was having sex with another man.
Recorder Alistair MacDonald KC told Wedgner at the April hearing: “You appreciate that you were out of control during this period. You have accepted your responsibility. You were often jealous and paranoid and it’s contributed to by your worsening cocaine addiction. You accept that you behaved very badly.”