A LOVESICK ex hacked into his model girlfriend’s email and social media accounts after their relationship came to an abrupt end. 

Joshua McMurtry subjected his former girlfriend of three years to months of unwanted contact including an audio message in which warned he would kill himself.

The 22-year-old also accused his Colchester girlfriend of cheating on him.

Kathy Wilson, prosecuting, said the couple broke up because McMurtry became “controlling”.

She detailed persistent contact from McMurtry, which began with unwanted calls and emails.

That behaviour was reported to the police, who interviewed McMurtry, but his ex continued to receive handwritten letters about her through the post, some of which stretched to five-pages.

Ms Wilson added: “She then described alterations being made to her email accounts like passwords and some of her social media accounts were deleted.

“A work email account was deleted and on Instagram there were modelling photos deleted.”

The retail manager later accused the Colchester woman of infidelity before making an audio message saying he “did not want to live anymore” public.

In an impact statement, the victim described how her mental health had been affected.

She said: “When I go out with friends, I put on a brave face but when I get back home, I crumble.”

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Pictured outside Colchester Magistrates' Court

Louise Maples, mitigating, said it was McMurtry’s first relationship and it had come to a “devastating” and “abrupt” end.

She added weeks before the split, the pair had enjoyed an anniversary trip to Paris where the victim said she wanted to start a family with him.

The solicitor added: “The relationship came to an abrupt end and he struggled.

The solicitor added: “It was very devastating for him that it ended without any real explanation.

“He’d never been through a breakup and felt particularly awful and was seeking answers, but also to relay how he was feeling.”

She added: “It was also his last year of university and the breakup coincided with his final exams so his stress levels were already quite high.”

McMurtry, of Charlbury Road, Nottingham, admitted harassment without violence between May and August last year when he appeared at Colchester Magistrates’ Court yesterday. 

Magistrates ordered him to complete 160 hours of unpaid work and banned him from Essex for a year. 

He must also pay £170 in court costs.