A CLYDEBANK man could be jailed for contacting his ex-partner – which included sending a waving emoji by mobile.

John O’Neill, of Braes Avenue, was given a two-year non-harassment order by the courts in the wake of his 23-year relationship with his wife collapsing around five years ago, leading to him harassing her.

Dumbarton Sheriff Court heard on Wednesday, February 13, how, at around 4.30pm on January 4, the 58-year-old’s former partner received a phone call from a number that she recognised as O’Neill’s.

She didn’t answer the call and at 5.05pm he sent her a text message.

It read: “You okay? Need to know. You okay?”

She did not reply and contacted police. Then, on January 11, again at around 4pm, there was another call which she didn’t answer and another, similar text message asking: “You okay?”

The woman was then added to a group message on Facebook where O’Neill sent a waving emoji.

O’Neill was again reported to police and he pleaded guilty to breaking to breaching the non-harassment order last month.

The court order had been imposed on October 25, 2017, and court papers note that O’Neill made the calls and sent the messages from Orbison Place, Faifley.

Defence solicitor Gail Campbell said: “I have intimated just how serious this offence is.

“While the content seems to be innocuous in itself, it’s not the content, it’s the fact he has breached the order.

“I would hope my words to him have hit home. He should know better. He knows there’s an order in place.”

Ms Campbell described the separation as “one of the most acrimonious splits I have seen in some time” and told the court that O’Neill’s ex-partner was living in the former matrimonial home in Cyprus.

It is one of five properties in the country currently under dispute.

Ms Campbell added that O’Neill had received “credible information” about his ex-partner’s health and this led him to try to contact her – even though he should not have done so.

She added that even with the best of intention, her client should not have done so as his ex “quite simply” didn’t want to hear from him.

“He accepts he will be punished,” she said. “There is an almost fixation in terms of the end of the relationship and divorce and property dispute.”

Sheriff Simon Pender ordered O’Neill be assessed for the Pair Programme for curbing domestic abuse but was still considering sending him to jail.

Sentence was deferred to March 13.