A SANDOWN man who sent hundreds of unsolicited messages to his ex-girlfriend has been sentenced for harassment.

Steven Mursell, of Benjamin Mews, appeared before the Isle of Wight Magistrates' Court on Tuesday.

The 29-year-old originally denied harassment without violence, between June 22 and June 24 of this year, but changed his plea.

Prosecutor, Liam Hunter, told the court Mursell and his victim had been in a short relationship, during which time she had fallen pregnant.

He said the harassment had taken place during a very narrow period, wherein Mursell had sent the victim a high volume of messages, emails and voicemails, and later visited her address.

By way of a statement, read out in court, the victim described how she had been bombarded by hundreds of messages from any form of contact Mursell could find, including going through family and friends.

She said she felt scared for her safety and the last two month had been hell.

Frustrated in the docks, Mursell told the court: "She's manipulated me so much, it's not right. She's horrible. It's evil what she's doing."

Oscar Vincent, defending, said there had been a lot of two-way traffic in terms of correspondence between the two parties.

He said the pair had lots of discussions, primarily focussing on the welfare of their unborn child, but conceded Mursell had expressed some frustration when the victim accused him of harassment.

Mr Vincent said Mursell was apologetic to the victim, and in interview with police, effectively admitted the matters.

Mr Vincent said Mursell admitted getting angry and upset, and didn't mean what he said.

He said his record spoke for itself ­— his last conviction more than ten years ago ­— and he had no history of violence.

Mursell's case was adjourned to October 25 and a pre-sentence report was ordered.

He was granted conditional bail.