A man who met a woman via an online dating app has been banned from contacting her after he got emotional and called her on numerous occasions when she claimed he had given her chlamydia.

Louis Grieves, from Swanley, had met the woman, a prison officer at HMP Maidstone, via the app and the couple dated for a while.

However, their relationship became strained after she sent him a message on Snapchat accusing him of giving her a sexually transmitted infection.

After sending the message, the woman blocked him from the instant messaging app, but the 21-year-old then made a series of phone calls to her and also sent an emotionally charged text message to get her to answer her phone.

The woman did not want to respond to his calls or text and reported the matter to police. Grieves was later charged with harassment.

Grieves, of Northview, Swanley, admitted the offence when he appeared before magistrates in Sevenoaks on February 9.

The court heard Grieves pleaded guilty to the offence on the basis he made numerous calls to the woman on one day, July 9, 2022, after she'd accused him of passing on chlamydia.

James Nichols told the court the basis of the plea was accepted by the Crown Prosecution Service. He said the woman worked in the public sector as a prison officer at HMP Maidstone and wanted a restraining order to prevent Grieves going near her again.

The court was told Grieves had no intention of going near the woman again or her workplace. Magistrates were told he got tested for chlamydia after she accused him of passing it on and had tested negative.

Magistrates fined Grieves £400 and ordered he pay a victim surcharge of £160 and £85 costs, he was also banned from contacting the woman for two years.

Chairman of the bench, Jackie Hamilton said: "From her perspective it was not OK [to make the calls]. It can be intimidating at the other end of the phone."