A MAN who threatened to release intimate photos of a woman has avoided being sent straight to prison.

Joshua Snape also sent explicit images of himself and engaged in behaviour that constituted harassment.

The 30-year-old was reported to the police however and charged with threatening to disclose private sexual photographs with intent to cause distress, harassment without violence and sending an indecent message.

He admitted the harassment and indecent message charges, but he was convicted of the threatening to disclose charge after a trial at a previous hearing.

The case was adjourned until recently for sentence at Warrington Magistrates’ Court, with Jessica Pridding, prosecuting, explaining how the offences were all committed in Warrington last winter.

Snape pursued a course of conduct which amounted to the unwanted harassment of the victim by phoning and emailing her a number of times.

He also sent an email containing explicit images of himself that were ‘grossly offensive or of an indecent, obscene or menacing character’.

In addition, the defendant threatened to disclose a private sexual photograph or film without the consent of the woman involved, with the intention of causing her distress.

Considering all that was said during the hearing, magistrates remarked that the offences were so serious that only a custodial sentence could be justified.

This took into consideration the number of offences committed, the impact on the victim, the defendant’s previous record and the fact that the offences were committed while he was the subject of a court-imposed community order.

However, following a determination by the Probation Service that there is a realistic prospect of rehabilitation in his case, the jail term does not have to be served immediately.

Snape, of Sankey Street in Warrington town centre, was sentenced to 12 weeks in prison, suspended for 12 months.

During this period, he must complete 20 rehabilitation activity requirement days.

He was also handed a five-year restraining order prohibiting him from contacting the victim or entering a named Warrington street.

Moreover, the defendant was ordered to pay costs to the Crown Prosecution Service of £650 and a victim surcharge of £154.