Man sent 56 texts to ex in four hours

Sending abusive text to his ex, including calling her a ‘‘dog’’, has landed a man in court.

On Thursday Richard Gavin Rotohiko, 34, appeared in the New Plymouth District Court charged with contravening a protection order, which carries a maximum penalty of three years in prison, and breaching release conditions.

According to the summary of facts, Rotohiko was served a protection order against his former partner and their three children on September 2, 2015.

Around 10:30am on January 29 this year, Rotohiko was in Waitara when he text his former partner asking where their daughter was staying, as the daughter had told him her mother had kicked her out of home.

The summary said the texts were not a concern but after multiple messages between the pair, Rotohiko became angry and abusive.

He started calling his former partner a ‘‘dog’’, described parts of her body in derogatory terms and demanded to know where his daughter was.

Rotohiko sent a total of 56 texts in the four hour period, which caused distress to the victim and upheaval in the household.

Defence lawyer Josie Mooney said while there was a large number of texts, the victim had also been Rotohiko during that time.

Rotohiko had not had any contact with the victim since the incident, she said.

She said he would be available for community work, if he was sentenced to that.

Judge Lynne Harrison said Rotohiko’s actions were the ‘‘same old same old’’ and unacceptable.

On the charge of breaching release conditions, Rotohiko was convicted and discharged.

He was also remanded on bail to appear on June 9 on the charge of contravening the protection order. texting