A jealous thug, who smashed a car his ex-partner was driving before scrawling abuse in her kitchen and plunging a knife into a unit, has been branded ‘insecure’ by a judge.

Martin Ogelby flew into a rage when his victim turned up to pick him in her brother’s Audi and smashed the windows of the car with a mallet, showering her with broken glass.

He then launched a torrent of abuse in a series of threatening and intimidating messages and phone calls.

Teesside Crown Court heard how his erratic behaviour escalated when he gained entry to her Darlington home and wrote ‘f*** you’ all around her kitchen.

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Jenny Haigh, prosecuting, the defendant’s short relationship with his victim broke down in May this year when his jealous behaviour was exasperated by his drink and drug use.

The 44-year-old banned her from mentioning her former partner and demanded she take a video-call to show him that no-one else was in her Darlington home.

Miss Haigh told the court how Ogelby caused more than £2,500 worth of damage to Audi leaving the woman covered in broken glass.

“The following day, she said she was ‘tortured’ with calls and messages from the defendant,” she added.

“Some of them she answered and some of them she didn’t – during one of the calls she told him the relationship was over.

“He called he a ‘*****-bucket’ and various other abusive terms.”

The court heard how Ogelby then turned up at her home when she was out and vandalised her home leaving a crowbar on her bed and a knife embedded in a cabinet causing more than £2,000 worth of damage.

The Northern Echo: Martin OgelbyMartin Ogelby (Image: Durham Constabulary)

Ogelby, of Imperial Crescent, Stockton, pleaded guilty to criminal damage, common assault and harassment between May 29 and June 2.

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Kelleigh Lodge, mitigating, said her client was ‘genuinely sorry’ for his behaviour and had learnt a harsh lesson while held in custody on remand following his arrest in June.

Judge Jonathan Carroll said: “When she told you it was over you used some seriously disgusting terms to describe the woman who you had been in a relationship with.

“Your messages were threatening and intimidating which is exactly what they were designed to do. You said nothing was going to make you stop and you would destroy everything she held.”

The judge locked Ogelby up for a total of 15 months after he relentlessly targeted his victim over a protracted time period.