AN OBSESSED 30-year-old who harassed and stalked his ex-girlfriend with a barrage of text messages and phone calls has been kept behind bars until he appears in court next.

AN OBSESSED 30-year-old who harassed and stalked his ex-girlfriend with a barrage of text messages and phone calls has been kept behind bars until he appears in court next.

David Begley has admitted to harassing his girlfriend but denied saying that he was going to burn her house down and kill her.

He pleaded guilty to harassing his girlfriend with hundreds of text messages and phone calls and also admitted being violent in his police cell while he was on remand.

Begley, of Old Banwell Road, Locking, will next appear at North Somerset Magistrates Court on September 18 for a Newton hearing’ where evidence from the prosecution and defence will be examined before a sentence is decided on.

This special type of hearing has been ordered by magistrates because the evidence from the two camps differs so much. Meanwhile, Begley has been remanded into police custody and also admitted one charge of possession of cannabis.

Prosecutor Kevin Blackmore read a statement to the court from Begley’s ex-girlfriend.

He told how the problems started when Begley’s ex-girlfriend was on a night out in Weston and he accused her of sleeping with someone else.

Over the next few months the problems spiralled out of control, with Begley flooding her mobile phone with text messages and phone calls, offending her 10-year-old son. He would also work himself into what she described as uncontrollable states - moods in which she thought he was going to hurt her or even kill her.

When he was eventually arrested after she went to the police, Begley defied the terms of his bail by constantly driving past the outside of her house.

Charles Hart, defending, said: “He has lost everything in being locked up on remand since July 10.

“This case has meant he has also lost his job as a chef. He accepts the relationship is over and he wants to get on with his life.”