'Kettering man ruined my life with revenge porn...don't let others do the same'

A woman whose jealous former partner shared explicit photos of her after their relationship ended has bravely spoken of the toll 'revenge porn' took on her.

Paul Mitcham, of Longleat Grove in Kettering, was spared from prison on Monday (May 11) after sending the intimate images to a man he thought his victim was seeing.

The victim, who had sent the 27-year-old sexual images during the course of their relationship, waived her anonymity to allow the Northants Telegraph to report the case fully, but did not want to be named.

She described feeling horrified, looking over her shoulder and fearing she would be on an adult website after the images were shared.

She said: "I didn't know who else he had sent them to. Other friends? People at work? Who would do that? It's just disgusting and made me feel sick.

"I didn't know how to look at people because I didn't know if they had seen these pictures.

"There was nothing I could do about something I didn't know about. I just had to be brave about it."

Leicester Crown Court heard that seven months after their relationship ended, the victim was out with friends enjoying the Grand National on April 6 last year when Mitcham joined them and tried to speak to her.

Later that evening the victim went to a male friend's house, but Mitcham turned up "upset" because he thought she was seeing another man.

The next day the victim's friend - who had left to go to the airport - contacted her to say Mitcham had sent seven intimate photos of her.

Prosecuting, Mark Knowles said: "It is clear that he had caused her some distress...doubtless jealous of her moving on."

When he was arrested forklift driver Mitcham said "he wasn't thinking straight".

Mr Knowles added: "He said he had not sent them to anyone else and suggested the male friend would have seen it all before anyway."

He later admitted disclosing private sexual photographs with intent to cause distress and was also charged with assaulting the victim and the theft of her jewellery before the Crown Prosecution Service offered no evidence, a decision the victim said she wasn't happy with. Mitcham, who was supported by his mum in the public gallery, was also charged with a harassment offence relating to the same incident but the CPS said the prosecution was not required in the public interest.

He faced a maximum penalty of two years in prison but the court heard mitigation from his barrister Lawrence Henderson about his 'previous good character' and late Asperger's diagnosis.

Judge Rupert Mayo instead handed him a community order with rehabilitation days, made a five-year restraining order preventing him from contacting the victim and ordered him to pay court costs of £535.

He said: "In my judgement you have learnt your lesson."

Revenge porn is currently a prominent TV topic with Coronation Street's Asha Alahan at the centre of a soap storyline about naked pictures being shared online.

Mitcham's victim said she was disappointed he was not jailed to show people how serious such actions are.

She said: "It ruined my life. I was in a strange place and I'm glad it's got to the point where it's all over but I feel he should have got a harsher sentence.

"It (no prison sentence) might make more people think they will get away with it.

"On TV they have shown it as a really big and serious thing, but because he hasn't gone to prison it makes it out to be not that serious."

Now the victim is urging anyone who has been through something similar to contact police - and wants people to think before they make the same mistake.

She said: "Just consider what could happen. Nobody wants to go through what I went through.

"People turn into different people. Paul turned into a jealous person and did that.

"You don't know which way someone is going to go. I don't want this to happen to anyone else."