A cyber-stalker bombarded a teenager online with thousands of text messages before threatening the girl and her family after she ended the online relationship.

Daniel Edmunds, 26, of Bristol, also posted intimate pictures of the young woman from the Highlands online following the break-up of the friendship after she had earlier send him naked images of herself. The bricklayer been ordered to carry out 240 hours unpaid work at Inverness Sheriff Court and placed under supervision of social workers for one year after pleading guilty to stalking.

The court heard the 17-year-old and Edmunds struck up an online friendship after she was downloading music from a site which included an internet chat room.

Fiscal depute Roderick Urquhart said: "The friendship then became a cyber romance, although they never met.

"They would exchange messages daily and she eventually agreed to provide pictures of herself in a state of undress.

"When she wanted the relationship to come to an end, she made repeated requests to Edmunds to stop contacting her.

"He ignored them and became less friendly, abusive and threatening."

Mr Urquhart said she repeated her calls for him to cease contact, but Edmunds threatened to kill her if she continued to ignore him.

Finally, in October 2013, the stalker sent her a message which read: "Ha ha, everyone can see you. Your body is on Twitter."

The following month he sent the images to a friend of the girl whose mother contacted the girl's mother.

Edmunds admitted stalking the teenager from January 1, 2012 to December 13, 2013.His defence agent Alison Foggo said Edmunds now realised he had been 'foolish and nasty' and not realised the impact it was having on the girl.