It was a case of ‘tit-for-tat’ according to a solicitor this week after his client pleaded guilty to sending an indecent image and message to her ex-partner’s girlfriend.

Thirty-one-year-old Samantha Bolton, of Charle Thomas Avenue, Pembroke Dock, appeared at Haverfordwest Magistrates Court on Tuesday to admit a charge of sending an electronic communication, namely a message to a female in Tenby, which was indecent or grossly offensive for the purpose of causing distress or anxiety.

She also pleaded guilty to a separate charge of possessing 0.19 grams of cocaine.

Prosecutor Vaughan Pritchard-Jones told the court that Miss Bolton had been in a long term relationship with the father of her children, but after this broke down, she managed to obtain possession of a photograph of her ex’s new partner, which showed her upper body and a bare breast.

“Miss Bolton sent a message on her mobile phone to the female in question on the evening of June 18 stating how ‘tacky’ she thought the photo was, and how her partner should be ‘more careful’ who he shows the photo to, also threatening to put it ‘all over’ Facebook.

The court heard how Miss Bolton wrote ‘a few people have asked why your nipples aren’t straight?’ in the message followed by a series of ‘laughing’ emojis.

“The complainant found the messages insulting and nasty. When interviewed by police officers, Miss Bolton admitted sending the photo and messages, and said that she wanted to cause upset to the lady - which she clearly did!” continued Mr. Pritchard-Jones.

“On the drugs charge, in custody when Miss Bolton’s property was searched, the cocaine was found in her purse, which seems incredible that someone would go to the police station with cocaine in their purse!” he added.

Defence solicitor Jonathan Webb told the court that Miss Bolton had been with her ex-partner for 15 years and they had five children together, but separated earlier in 2018.

“Her ex moved on and started seeing someone else, and Miss Bolton wasn’t happy about that, and as people some times do, they do hurtful things to other people.

Explaining how Miss Bolton got to be in possession of the image of her ex-partner’s girlfriend, Mr. Webb said that her son was playing games on a mobile phone that used to belong to his father, when the image popped up on an app.

“He asks mum what it was about, which drew her attention to the photo. Miss Bolton wanted to toy with them, and threatened to do all this stuff, but she had no intention of sharing it on Facebook really, she just sent it back to that person - it was simply tit-for-tat as a way of getting back at these people.

“There was no campaign or wider distribution of the image, but now as a result of this case being here today, there is going to be a wider audience,” added Mr. Webb.

Magistrates handed Miss Bolton a 12 month community order with a 15 day Rehabilitation Activity Requirement and 100 hours of unpaid work for the messages.

She was fined £80 for the cocaine charge, and ordered to pay prosecution costs of £85 and an £85 surcharge.