When a relationship ends, there are some who will go to great lengths to get them back. So many Hollywood stories are built on the broken man doing romantic deed after romantic deed to win over their significant other.
But one bloke went so far in his bid to retrieve his girlfriend that he was charged with harassment.
Andrej Uspensk spent three months bombarding his ex-girlfriend Tatjana Novitjenko with angry text messages and emails as well as flowers to her Chelsea home. The 38-year-old took it a bit far when he sent Ms Novitjenko a double-ended dildo for her birthday and, strangely, a photoshopped picture of a Chihuahua 'drowning' in the Thames.
His lawyer said the sex toy was a 'long-standing joke' between the couple and the dog was meant to be portrayed as swimming, not drowning.
The pair dated for eight months and the court heard he became aggressive and protective of her right from the get-go. The 35-year-old broke it off because, according to her, their sex life became 'boring and conventional'.
Prosecutor Katie Bryan told Westminster Magistrates Court: "[Andrej] sent a number of angry messages to her and she told him to stop contacting her but he continued and attended her dance studio and started telling people that she had aborted her baby.
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Hear this woman's harrowing account of her stalker
"On 31 August the victim received a text asking for receipts for his photography business and on the 14 September the victim returned home to find flowers with a note that read 'this time last year I kissed the most beautiful girl in the world.'
"It was signed with his name."
He sent conflicting messages, one criticising a photoshoot and then a day later apologising for contacting her.
Ms Novitjenko read out a witness impact statement in court, illustrating she was concerned for his mental health because of the strange, at times mixed-messages she received over the three-month period.
Prosecutor Bryan added: "Leaving flowers on her doorstep and then photoshopping and sending offensive material, he knows it is unwanted.
"When the relationship is finished she makes that clear that she does not want to hear from him.
"The police serve a harassment notice but he continues."
Uspensk plead guilty to the charge of harassment and was handed a 12-month community order and is required to spend 25 days in rehabilitation.
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He was also fined £170 and had a lifetime restraining order imposed, preventing him from ever contacting his ex-girlfriend ever again.
Featured Image Credit: SWNSTopics: Police, News, crime, UK, court