A scorned boyfriend who smashed the windscreen of his former fiance's Porsche outside her luxury home on Sandbanks has been spared jail.

Edward Morris became convinced that his former partner had been sleeping with another man before deciding to 'take it out' on her car outside her home overlooking Poole Harbour.

He also left 22 public posts on her Facebook page accusing her of cheating and bombarded her with text messages demanding she hand over £20,000 owed to him, a court heard.

Morris, 54, later withdrew his claim the 54-year-old company director had cheated on him and acknowledged he had been 'driven to delusion' by alcohol.

Magistrates heard how Morris went on the emotional tirade in September 2019 after their relationship broke down just a few days earlier Shami Duggal, prosecuting, told a previous hearing: "Between September 20 and 26 he harassed her on social media and through texts.

"She received an email and four text messages saying, 'I will go away when you give the £20,000 back.'

"He later changed this to £10,000.

"The defendant left 22 public posts on her Facebook stating she had slept with another man.

"This is an obsession which has been going on for two and a half years."

Mr Duggal said shortly before the attack Morris bumped into the victim's son in Tesco and said, 'I'm going to take it out on your mum's car.'

A court heard the criminal damage to the Porsche Boxster amounted to over £1,000.

Terrance Scanlan, mitigating, told Poole Magistrates' Court: "Mr Morris' attitude to this situation is one of apology, regret and remorse.

"This was an isolated incident. It was a short duration of four to five days when he was sending messages.

"It culminated with the smashing of the car.

"He is anxious to stress that his actions were caused by two things.

"He was heavily drinking which caused him to be deluded about the issues he and (the victim) were facing, in particular his belief that she was having an affair.

"The relationship broke down just a few days earlier. There was an emotional backlash.

"There had been a wedding plan and an engagement ring bought. There was anger and recrimination on both sides and it resulted in this outpouring."

District judge Stephen Nicholls gave Morris an 18 month rehabilitation order, including 200 hours of community work, and ordered him to pay £1,540 compensation for damage to the Porsche.

He said: "I give you credit for your guilty plea and your admissions. While it is correct you do have previous convictions, they were a long time ago and are not relevant to today's case.

"I acknowledge that you were suffering from the effects of alcohol abuse. You accept the serious nature of both offences."