A MAN who used a withheld number to phone his ex-partner 160 times called her “a scumbag” when he appeared in court remotely from prison.

Darren Cranmer, 41, was due to be sentenced before Judge Richard Kelly on Thursday after he admitted breaching a restraining order following a previous conviction in 2021.

Ipswich Crown Court, which was sitting at Colchester Magistrates’ Court, heard Cranmer had contacted the victim between May 31 and June 2 this year.

Eleanor Sheerin, prosecuting, read out a victim impact statement on behalf of the victim who wrote she “was unable to eat and sleep due to her anxiety because Cranmer wouldn’t stop calling her”.

Miss Sheerin said both had contacted each other after Cranmer received the restraining order.

During a pause in proceedings, Cranmer, who appeared in court via a video link from HMP Chelmsford, was heard to say “scumbag”.

When asked by the judge what he said, Cranmer, of Larch Close, Colchester, said: “She’s made all this up.”

Sentencing did not go ahead because Cranmer and defence counsel Simeon Wallis asked to discuss further material which could be presented before the court.

The case was adjourned until next Thursday.