A man used a phone cloning app to harass his ex, a court heard.

Matthew Terry, of Dyson’s Hill, Honley, admitted using the computer software to ring his former partner Ruth Illingsworth’s phone.

Miss Illingsworth received calls from various numbers stored on her phone.

These were supposed to belong to her boyfriend and the Child Maintenance service but she was shocked when she picked up her phone and heard Terry’s voice on the other end.

Terry, 35, also threatened to expose Miss Illingsworth as a benefits cheat and claimed on his Facebook page that she was stopping him from seeing his children.

He appeared at Kirklees Magistrates’ Court and pleaded guilty to a charge of harassment. The court heard that the couple’s relationship ended in 2012 and Terry was given a harassment warning by police after sending her abusive messages.

However the behaviour continued and on one occasion Terry bombarded her with 30 messages.

Many of these were derogatory, calling Miss Illingsworth an abuser and claiming that she was obsessive.

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Shamaila Qureshi, prosecuting, said: “He sent her a picture of a screenshot of his computer and threatened to report her as a benefit cheat.

“He then sent her a message saying: ‘Call me back or I’ll do it’.”

Terry also made several unwanted calls to Miss Illingsworth, Mrs Qureshi said.

She told the court: “She believed one call was from her boyfriend, she answered it and it was her ex’s voice.

“The same day she had calls from various numbers stored in her phone.

“The defendant called her from what she thought was the Child Maintenance number.

“She continued to receive calls and believes he used an app on the Internet to clone her numbers in an attempt to get her to answer her phone.”

Terry also posted pictures from Fathers 4 Justice on his Facebook page and wrote: “Contact denial is child abuse.”

He admitted that he used an app to clone Miss Illingsworth’s phone calls.

The court heard that he wanted to see his children.

District Judge Maggie McCormack ordered a full report from probation staff before sentencing Terry.