A 51-YEAR-OLD man threatened to kidnap his ex-partner’s ducks and bombarded her with texts after she split up with him.

Thomas Quinn sent dozens of text messages to Susan Goodridge on April 11 – around three months after she ended their on/off four-year relationship.

Magistrates at North Somerset Courthouse heard last Thursday how Quinn continued to text Ms Goodridge after they split.

Gemma Kneebone, prosecuting, said: “Sometimes the texts were abusive and they seemed to get more abusive when he was drinking alcohol.”

The court heard Quinn, of Broadcroft Avenue in Claverham, sent 40 texts to Ms Goodridge on April 11.

Ms Kneebone added: “Many were abusive and many were threatening her animals – she has two ducks.

“She was concerned the defendant would come to her property, take her two ducks or do some harm.”

When Quinn was arrested he told police he loved his ex-partner ‘to bits’ and would not harm her.

He said she had told him she was sleeping with another man and he got drunk to subdue his heartache but the more he drank the more texts he sent.

Quinn, who pleaded guilty to harassment without violence at an earlier hearing, represented himself in court.

Breaking down in tears he told magistrates he had spoken to a psychologist since the incident and insisted although he had been drinking too much, he was ‘not an alcoholic’.

He added: “I haven’t touched alcohol since and I don’t have a problem.”

Magistrates handed Quinn a community order for six months with a supervision requirement and ordered him to pay �85 costs.