SYDNEY, N.S. — A Sydney man who relentlessly harassed a former girlfriend by sending multiple unwanted texts and other social media messages along with explicit sex videos and pictures is to serve additional jail time.
Bradley Shane Axworthy, 43, of Thomas Street, is to serve 10 months in a provincial jail followed by a 30-month probation period during which he is prohibited from accessing all social media platforms along with accessing anonymous apps.
Axworthy, who has already spent 68 days on remand, was sentenced after pleading guilty to eight counts of breaching court orders, two counts of criminal harassment and a single count of assault. The offences are alleged to have occurred in Sydney between 2018-19.
Prosecutor Peter Harrison told provincial court Judge Alan Tufts that Axworthy and his former partner were together for about three years and have no children together. Both have children from previous relationships. They separated in October 2018.
The assault occurred in 2018 when Axworthy smashed the woman’s face into a bedroom wall after an argument.
After being charged with the offence and released on conditions that included he have no contact with the woman, Axworthy persisted in sending the woman multiple text messages using a host of anonymous apps in a failed bid to disguise his identity. He also threatened to post intimate pictures of the woman online.
In other instances, Axworthy would make as many as 22 calls after midnight to the woman during which he would call her disparaging names. He also sent her a picture of her then new boyfriend.
The woman told police Axworthy was also following her to and from work.
Even while at the Cape Breton Correctional Centre, Axworthy continued to reach out and call the woman while under a court order to have no contact.
A more disturbing aspect of Axworthy’s behaviour was sending the woman and her daughter explicit videos and photos of him engaging in same-sex intercourse.
Harrison told the court that Axworthy urged the woman to get tested for HIV noting he had been having unprotected sex with individuals who were HIV-positive.
Over the course of events, Harrison said the woman had blocked 15 numbers being used by Axworthy.
“I do not feel like me anymore."
When arrested on a breach of conditions for failing to abide by a curfew, Axworthy told police he was late coming home because he was at work with a local towing company. A call to the company noted the service was no longer in business and Axworthy did not work for them.
In a victim impact statement, read in court by Harrison, the woman said she continues to be stressed and anxious and is constantly looking over her shoulder in case Axworthy is lurking in the shadows.
She has undergone several medical tests to ensure she is not HIV-positive and has moved in a further bid to escape any and all contact by Axworthy.
“I do not feel like me anymore,” said the woman, adding the entire relationship has left her sad, mad and confused.
Harrison said Axworthy’s flagrant and deliberate breaches of court orders have left an emotional, physical and financial impact on the victim.
Defence lawyer David Iannetti said his client is prepared to move on and has in fact begun a new relationship with another woman.
In accepting the joint sentencing recommendation, the judge told Axworthy he needed to understand what and why he did what he did.
“You have to move on,” said the judge, adding Axworthy’s behaviour has been over the top.
