A MAN who was described as having 'developed an obsession' for an ex-colleague appeared in court after he persistently messaged her and her friends.

David Petzke, 24, was told by the woman and her boyfriend to leave her alone, but he continued to contact her.

When the woman blocked him, he started to get in touch with her friends.

He appeared at Glasgow Sheriff Court for sentencing last week after previously pleading guilty to repeatedly messaging her and failing to desist when requested to do so.

Prosecutor Josh Dowie revealed the woman and Petzke worked for the same company within the finance department in late 2015.

He said: “In March 2016, the accused contacted the complainer via message stating he liked her and wanted to get to know her better.

“She informed him she had a boyfriend and was not interested in him romantically but agreed to be friends. The accused continued to message her, but she didn’t reply.

“In October 2016, the complainer moved job and the accused messaged her stating ‘good luck’. He messaged again on November 2 and got no reply.

“On November 15 he messaged again. The complainer did not hear from the accused during a three-year break.

“In September 2021, the accused uploaded a hand-drawn picture of the complainer to Instagram and tagged her.

“He messaged her six times saying he loved her. She asked him to leave her alone.”

Petzke messaged her another two times and the woman blocked him. Her boyfriend got in touch with Petzke and asked him to leave his girlfriend alone.

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On September 19, 2021, the court heard that Petzke messaged the woman’s cousin’s boyfriend with five messages, including "[woman’s name] is all I need".

He then messaged one of the woman’s friends saying he liked the woman. This person asked Petzke to stop talking to her friend and themselves.

The prosecutor added: “The messages caused the complainer to feel uncomfortable and annoyed at the persistence and involvement of her friends.

“On September 22, the complainer reported the matter to police and provided screenshots of communications from the accused’s social media profiles.

“Officers attended at the accused’s home, and he was conveyed to Helen Street police office where he was cautioned and charged and made no reply.”

Sheriff Valerie Mays revealed she was concerned that Petzke “wouldn’t take no for an answer”.

His lawyer said: “There’s not any threats or anything unpleasant. He seems to have become a little bit obsessed with her.

“He didn’t perceive the messages to be persistent and he stopped messaging as soon as she advised him she was going to contact police.

"I would have thought the police would have spoken to him about it and everything would have been brought to an end. But regardless of that, he pleaded guilty to this offence.”

Sheriff Valerie Mays told Petzke: “You were very young when you came across this female and are still young. Maybe some work needs to be done on relationships.

“You seem to have developed some sort of obsession with her. It’s not your choice whether someone has a relationship with you. If they say no, that’s it.”

Petzke, of Knightswood, was placed on a structured deferred sentence and ordered to come back to court for a review in three months’ time.

The sheriff added: “Depending on that report, I’ll decide what I’ll do next.”

A non-harassment order was put in place for two years.