A FATHER who was concerned about the health of his son has pleaded guilty to breaching a court order banning him from contacting his former partner.

Connor Hedley used a friend's Facebook account to message the woman despite being made subject to a non-molestation order.

The 22-year-old contacted her several times through the messenger service before calling her and becoming abusive.

Teesside Crown Court heard how Hedley told the woman she was a 's**t mother' after their son fell ill on April 8 this year.

Jenny Haigh, prosecuting, said: "He was arrested and in interview he admitted having the non-molestation order and didn't think contacting his former partner about their son was breach of the order.

"However, once those messages were put to him, he did confirm that he did breach the order. He said he had been trying to find out how their son was."

The court heard how Hedley was also subject to a suspended sentence for burglary at the time of the offence.

Hedley, of Mulgrave Road, Hartlepool, pleaded guilty to the breach of the order.

In mitigation, Stephen Constantine said his client had successfully completed a tagged curfew and urged the judge to pass a similar sentence for the breach.

Judge Howard Crowson fined Hedley £100 and ordered him to pay £95 for a victim surcharge. He warned him that if he didn't pay the money he risked serving seven days in custody.