Dramatic court scenes as man sent down for sending 'indecent, threatening and violent' Facebook messages about his ex
A man was dramatically taken down to the cells to start a prison sentence after magistrates decided that his latest breach of a restraining order left his ex partner vulnerable.
Watch more of our videos on ShotsTV.com
and on Freeview 262 or Freely 565
There were emotional scenes after three black-clad security guards and a dock officer surrounded Rhys Wills at 3pm in courtroom two at Telford Magistrates Court on Wednesday and it became clear what was going to happen.
The bench of three magistrates were pronouncing sentence after 31-year-old Wills had pleaded guilty to two counts, one harassment by breaching a restraining order in Shifnal in July 2023. The messages had not been sent directly to his ex but someone known by him and her. The messages were passed to her.
The second charge was of sending Facebook messages which were in whole or part of an indecent or grossly offensive nature for the purpose of causing distress or anxiety to the recipient. The court was told that he had a history of breaches.
"Your actions have caused substantial distress to a vulnerable victim," the presiding justice told Wills, of Langley Crescent, Dawley, in Telford.
"We are going to send you to prison for 26 weeks for the breach.
"The electronic communications were indecent, threatening and violent and there will be custodial sentence for that, and we are giving an eight week custodial sentence for that offence. It will run concurrently."
