A 22-year-old Weston-super-Mare man has been spared jailed after pleading guilty to posting an explicit photo of his ‘mortified’ ex-girlfriend on social media.

Daniel Ball, of Windermere Avenue, appeared at North Somerset Courthouse on January 3 accused of disclosing a private sexual photographs with intent to cause distress.

The court heard how Ball shared one photo on Facebook which the woman had sent him at the beginning of their two-and-a-half-year relationship.

Kevin Blackmore, prosecuting, said the couple began dating in August 2015 and had a child together.

Ball had shared a picture on Facebook on November 9, days after the pair broke up, featuring a quote about ‘keeping a happy woman’ which prompted the victim to respond.

She said in a statement: “I responded to this as I was sick of being abused and criticised.

“At 9.16pm, an intimate photo of myself showing my pubic region was published.

“I took the photo myself and it was for his eyes only and gave no permission for it to be posted or shown to anyone else.

“This photo was posted for all my friends and family to see and this caused me a lot of distress.

“I felt horrendous. My son came to me and asked ‘mum, have you seen this?’ Even some of my son’s school friends had seen it and he has been getting abuse for this. I was mortified.”

Nigel Yeo, mitigating, said: “He accepts it was an unjustifiable thing to do, no matter how upset and angry he felt by their break up. He took it down himself after about an hour.

“It is clear he did not give any significant thought to the level of distress it could cause.

“This was a one-off, extremely thoughtless offence but it is not a pattern and he is a man of previous good character.”

In sentencing, magistrate Adrienne Henderson said Ball’s guilty plea had saved him from a custodial sentence.

She added: “There was an individual targeted here and picked on in a calculated way. During that time a considerable amount of harm had been done.

“It is considered a significant breach of trust as you were in an intimate relationship.”

Ball was handed a one-year community service order of 200 hours of unpaid work. He was also ordered to pay £200 in compensation and £170 in costs.