Spared jail...golfer who blitzed ex with 80 messages a day
A DOCTOR was subjected to a campaign of harassment by her golf professional ex-boyfriend after he refused to accept their relationship was over.
Dr Sara Bradbury-Willis, 37, was afraid to leave her house and suffered panic attacks after Andrew Humphreys bombarded her with thousands of messages over a five-month period.
Humphreys, the head professional golfer at his local club, narrowly avoided prison after he admitted harassment at Caernarfon magistrates’ court.
The court heard Humphreys, 33, called and texted the GP up to 80 times a day after she ended their relationship.
In many of the messages Humphreys, who is director of golf for Mid Wales Golf Academy, pleaded with her to take him back. In others he was “nasty and negative”.
After Dr Bradbury-Willis blocked his calls he sent her up to 100 emails a week.
Humphreys, of Aberdovey, Mid Wales, was handed a six-week suspended jail sentence after his court appearance last week.
He must complete rehabilitation sessions, was given a fiveyear restraining order and must pay £1,000 in compensation.
Afterwards, Dr Bradbury-Willis, a GP in Machynlleth, Mid Wales, said: “I felt like a prisoner in my own mind, let alone the house.
“The nature of the messages were things like ‘I want to be your man’, ‘I want to have a family with you’, ‘I want to marry you’.
“On occasion he would be nasty and negative. There were a couple of occasions he tried to speak to me in person but that resulted in me having panic attacks.
“He was texting and calling about 70 to 80 times a day.”
The couple began dating in 2012 before Humphreys moved in with Dr Bradbury-Willis in 2016.
But by February this year she was no longer happy and decided to end the relationship.
She left her home for three weeks to allow Humphreys to move out in his own time.
But her attempts to make the break-up amicable were thwarted when he launched his campaign.
Dr Bradbury-Willis said: “The level of contact was extreme.
“I ended up blocking his phone number for the last time at the beginning of April. This is when the emails started.
“I asked for help from the police at the start of July. I was not sleeping. On reflection I was in an emotionally abusive relationship.
“When I broke up with him he really didn’t want to let go and was trying to get me back.”
When asked why she had chosen to speak of her ordeal, she said: “I wanted to show other people who may be going through the same things that there is help and you will be taken seriously.”