A man sent a woman a message on social media when he found out her dog had died - despite a restraining order banning him from contacting her.

Timothy Barker, from Ashford, had been trawling through her Facebook account when he discovered she’d posted the sad update about her family pet.

He had been banned from contacting the woman after being given a restraining order in May last year after committing other offences.

But a court heard the 36-year-old couldn’t resist sending the message on December 2 last year, via Facebook Messenger, but it had been unwanted by his victim.

Barker, of Hunter Close, Willesborough, was charged with harassment, breaching his restraining order and pleaded guilty to the offence when he appeared at Folkestone Magistrates’ Court on June 19.

While in the dock, he also admitted being in breach of a suspended sentence he’d been given last year when the restraining order was made at Cornwall Magistrates Court.

Neil Sweeney prosecuting said: “A restraining order was imposed and this is the first breach. It’s an innocuous breach - the family dog had died and he sent a message to commiserate the victim.

“The woman gave a victim impact statement to say it was an unwanted message and breached the boundaries of the restraining order. She said it made her realise he had been monitoring her social media as she had put a post up about her dog being put down.

“That’s technically not a breach [looking at her Facebook], and he made full and frank admission in interview.

“His record is short. He had three convictions and he received the suspended sentence in May last year. It was a 12-week suspended sentence for 12 months.”

Mitigating, Emma Wright said her client had an unstable personality, attended a mental health group to get support and that he was on benefits.

She added: “He couldn’t resist sending the message and he has no family support. His family are in Cornwall.”

Deputy District Judge Nicola Fleck agreed the message Barker sent was innocuous and impulsive. She noted there had been no repetition, that he pleaded guilty at the first opportunity and said she could give him credit for that.

She also said she didn’t feel it was necessary to jail him for breaching his suspended sentence and issued a fine of £50 for that offence.

The judge also decided to place Barker on a 12-month conditional discharge for the breach of restraining order offence. She reminded him that if he offended again in that time, he would be punished for any new offence as well as this one.

Barker was also ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £26 and £85 court costs.