An alcoholic claimed he drank 280 cans of beer in a four-day binge during which he threatened to break his former partner's neck and made sexually explicit comments to her.

John Charles Paul Dallas (43), with an address at Eglinton Lane, Portrush, appeared at Coleraine Magistrates Court yesterday and admitted charges of harassment and making threats to damage property.

He was given a three-month sentence, which was suspended for a year.

An 18-month restraining order was also imposed, preventing him from coming within 500 metres of his victim.

Deputy District Judge Sean O'Hare told Dallas that meant if he was in a shop or a restaurant and the injured party came in, then he must leave.

A prosecutor said the woman was in fear of Dallas, and in one day last September he bombarded her with 40 phone calls as well as text messages.

The prosecutor said Dallas had been in a relationship with the woman, but they had split.

During an interview Dallas told police that he had consumed 280 cans of beer in four days and said "animosity" had built up, but he couldn't remember much of what he did.

However, when a tape of the phone calls was played back, he accepted it was him and pleaded guilty.

The prosecutor said there were "comments of a sexual nature" and Dallas said he would "break" the woman's neck.

The defendant had also threatened to harm her son and torch her car.

The prosecutor said that the woman was left "scared" in her own home in the Ballymoney area.

Defence solicitor Denise Gillan said her client had suffered mental health difficulties in the past and had been sectioned under the Mental Health Act.

He then stayed in the institution voluntarily, and had been living in a halfway house since December.

Ms Gillan said Dallas' parents and two brothers had passed away, with one of the latter dropping dead beside him after suffering an aneurysm, and he had had difficulties with drink for several years.

The solicitor said the defendant had not had a drink since being arrested.

Judge O'Hare said Dallas' behaviour had been "very bad", and said the woman had the right not to be harassed, intimidated and threatened.

Belfast Telegraph