A MAN terrorised his family in their Droitwich home, after his stepmother refused to pretend his stepfather was dead to gain an ex-girlfriend's sympathy.

Dorian Simmonds smashed a picture frame and damaged a table after they refused to go along with his lie, aimed at helping him rekindle a relationship, Worcester magistrates heard.

A few days later the 27-year-old also smashed his stepmother's glasses.

Simmonds, who since the incident has moved to Bath Road, Worcester, had admitted two counts of criminal damage at an earlier court hearing.

Mark Soper, prosecuting, said that on Friday, October 18, Simmonds was agitated about the breakdown of the relationship, which had seen his former girlfriend contacting police about his harassment of her.

"The anger was then turned on his parents," said Mr Soper. "He asked his mother to say his father was dead so she would visit him.

"His stepfather said he was 'absolutely terrified by the screaming, shouting and throwing things around that followed."

"This went on through the evening of the 18th and into the early hours of the 19th. He woke his father up at 12.10am to try to get him to contact her (the girlfriend)."

Mr Soper added that Simmonds' parents then contacted the police the following day, and a few days later, on Thursday, October 24, Simmonds waited for his stepmother and stood on her trolley as she returned home.

Remorseful

"Her glasses fell down and he broke them deliberately and threw them on a neighbour's roof," he said.

Rob McCrory, defending, said his client had co-operated with police and was remorseful for his actions. "He no longer has contact with the girl," he said.

Simmonds was sentenced to a community rehabilitation order for two years and ordered to pay £30 compensation for damage to a picture frame, and £20 for damage to the table.

He was also ordered to pay £96 compensation for the spectacles and £75 court costs.