A FORMER Workington man has been jailed for making an illegal attempt to contact his former partner in breach of a court order.

Lee Cogan, 38, was given a restraining order at Carlisle Crown Court last year after he admitted an actual bodily harm assault on his former partner in Whitehaven and then threatening her in an upsetting phone call.

In an earlier hearing, he admitted flouting the court’s non-contact restraining order by sending the woman a Facebook friend request.

Prosecutor Gerard Rogerson said the defendant, who had just been released on licence from a two-year jail sentence for the earlier assault, was barred from contacting the woman, the mother of their child.

It was while he was living at approved Probation Service premises in Carlisle city centre, just days after his release from prison, that he committed the offence.

In a statement, the woman confirmed that Cogan sent her the friend request at 10.50am, which she reported because such contact was not allowed. When quizzed by police, Cogan denied the offence.

He suggested that the woman was upset because he had not been in touch with her and claimed that he did not use Facebook. The victim told police that receiving his request, sent from an unregistered phone, had made her feel unsafe.

She described Cogan as 'unpredictable.' The woman told the police: “I want to be left alone to move on.”

Jeff Smith, for Cogan, said the defendant had been well settled in Carlisle and was working well with the Probation Service but he sent the friend request because he was frustrated at not having access to family photos.

“He meant nothing malicious towards the woman,” added Mr Smith.

Recorder Julian Shaw noted that Cogan had been recalled to prison to serve the remainder of his two-year jail term. “You attempted to cover your tracks because you knew you must have known you it was a clear breach of the court order.”

He then told police a 'pack of lies', suggesting that the victim was to blame for his Facebook friend request, said the Recorder.

“We entertain this victim blaming all too frequently,” commented the judge.

Recorder Shaw said the defendant will be released from his resumed sentence in January of next year. In the meantime, he was given a 12-week jail term, though this will be served concurrently with his recall sentence.

An earlier hearing was told about the defendant’s actual body harm assault on his former partner. It involved him pulling her hair, repeatedly punching her forcefully in the face. She suffered painful facial cuts and damage to her teeth.

His threat came later in a phone call, when he told the woman he was “going to do something bad to her that day.”