Distress at ex’s Instagram posts

A woman has told of her distress and emotional harm after an ex-partner took her phone and posted private information on her Instagram account.

When the posts were discovered and deleted, Ross Joseph Guthrie, 24, went on to post them again about 12 times.

Guthrie was sentenced in the Nelson District Court on Tuesday on charges of causing harm by posting digital communications, driving dangerously, and operating a motor vehicle causing sustained loss of traction.

Judge David Ruth said a victim impact statement from the woman showed that she was distressed and felt disrespected, as she had never given Guthrie permission to post private information about her.

Judge Ruth ordered Guthrie to pay $500 in emotional harm reparation to the victim, sentenced him to 12 months’ supervision and disqualified him from driving for six months.

Guthrie and the woman had been in a relationship. The court heard that on October 3 last year, they were at a Nelson address when the woman left in her vehicle to get away from Guthrie, and he followed her.

Police were called, and the woman returned to the property to speak to them. When Guthrie returned and saw the police, he did a U-turn and drove off.

He refused to stop, and police began a pursuit. He drove at 100kmh in a 50kmh zone, and later drove on the wrong side of Suffolk Rd in Stoke when police abandoned the pursuit. Guthrie then returned to the address, did a burnout outside and drove past police at speed.

The following week, at 1am on October 8, Guthrie returned to the address, entered the woman’s room and took her cellphone. He changed the access and recovery details on her Instagram account.

He then tried to get into bed with the woman. She woke and told him to leave,

‘‘[The posts] caused a degree of emotional harm to the victim.’’ Judge David Ruth

which he did after his attempts to reestablish the relationship were denied.

The next day, the woman was contacted by concerned family members and noticed that several posts had been made on her Instagram account. Guthrie had posted a picture of them together, a screenshot of a conversation between the woman and a friend, and a video that had been taken without her consent.

‘‘The nature of that conversation was private and caused a degree of emotional harm to the victim. None of that conversation was made for public consumption,’’ Judge Ruth said.

‘‘There was also a video post on her page of her undertaking unlawful activities, that had been recorded without her permission.’’

The posts were seen by several members of the woman’s friends and family before they were deleted.

The woman was unable to access her account. She felt horrified and emotionally distraught over the posts.

Guthrie was arrested, and his cellphone seized. He refused to give the passcode to the phone, saying it contained private information.

‘‘In explanation, you said you posted the posts because she was doing the same to you,’’ Judge Ruth said.

A pre-sentence report said the offending occurred in the context of a relationship breakdown, and a psychological report showed that Guthrie had ‘‘a number of difficulties’’ that provided background to the incident.