French man jailed for phoning and texting his ex 22,000 times in 10 months demanding she thank him for fixing up her flat

A French man has been jailed after phoning and texting his ex-girlfriend 21,807 times to demand that she thanks him for fixing up their flat.

The unnamed defendant admitted with hindsight that his actions 'were stupid'. 

The defendant, who comes from Rhone in southern France, had already accepted responsibility for the barrage of phone calls and text messages over a 10-month period, and had accepted an earlier demand to cease contact with his ex.

Jailed: A man has been imprisoned for texting and phoning his ex girlfriend nearly 22,000 times

He had been hospitalised in the past for depression, and struggled to cope when his girlfriend broke off their relationship in 2011. He demanded compensation for work he had carried out in their apartment.

'At the time, my logic was that until she returns the money...  or at least says thank you, I would not stop the calls,' he told the court in Lyon.

The calls kept coming - averaging more than 73 per day.

'She tried to block her line, but he phoned her parents instead and her workplace,' said Manuella Spee, lawyer for the victim, a 32-year-old teacher who was also not named.

It was only when she finally said thank you, during a meeting organised by a mediator, that the harassment stopped. He has not contacted her since.

'I tell myself, with hindsight, that it was stupid,' he told the court on Thursday.

WOULD YOU SNOOP THROUGH A LOST PHONE?

Security firm Symantec recently left 50 fully charged handsets lying in the street, loaded with apps called Private Pix and Online Banking.

The phones were left in New York, Washington D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco and Ottawa in Canada.

By tracking which apps were opened on each device, the researchers found that 96 per cent of finders rooted through a handset for details including social network accounts.

More than 43 per cent of finders tried to access online bank accounts. 

And only half tried to return the device. 

He said he wanted to return to school to train to be a legal assistant, and added that he had a 'passion for writing'.

He was given a 10-month sentence, six months of which was suspended, and a 1,000-euro (£800) fine.

He will also have to undergo psychiatric treatment and is barred from all contact with the woman he harassed, lawyers in the case told AFP. 

It follows news that one in five men, and a quarter of women, in relationships admit to snooping through texts, apps and pictures on their partner’s devices.

Although almost a quarter of male snoopers said they did so because they are nosy, 12 per cent admitted they were trying to catch their partner lying to them.

But looking for evidence of cheating was the number one reason why men looked through their boyfriend or girlfriend’s phone on tablet. 

More than 40 per cent of women reported their partner’s device did not have a passcode, compared to 33 per cent of men. Both male and female respondents claimed to know their partner’s device passcode because their partner had shared it with them in the past, unknowingly setting themselves up to get caught

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