THE mother of a Pocklington teenager who was sent a stream of obscene text messages by a 59-year-old man has called for him to be jailed.

The woman told The Press: “As far as I am concerned, they should throw the book at him. He should be locked up and they should throw away the key.”

She said the messages had sickened her and made her 15-year-old daughter afraid to go out. “The messages made me feel sick to the bottom of my stomach when my daughter showed me them,” she said. “As a mother, you just want to protect your daughter. She didn’t want to go out in case he was watching her.”

The mother was speaking out after Barry Underwood, of Eastern Way, Letchworth, Hertfordshire, pleaded guilty at North Herts Magistrates Court in Stevenage on Wednesday to sending a communication of an offensive nature. He was bailed to return to court later this month for sentencing.

The mother said some important questions remained unanswered so far for her, including how the man had managed to obtain her daughter’s mobile phone number and name.

The Press reported in April how the mother claimed police told her initially that the man suspected of sending the messages could not be arrested, because it was not believed any offence had been committed.

She then complained to East Yorkshire MP Greg Knight, who wrote to the Chief Constable of Humberside to query what had happened. She was subsequently told by police that the man was being arrested after all.

A Hertfordshire Police spokeswoman claimed it had initially been explained to the mother that there might not be sufficient information for the man to be arrested, as officers had to work within the legislation. But on fully reviewing the information, a decision was made to make an arrest. She added that, at the time of the arrest, officers had not been aware of any complaint or any involvement of the local MP.

But the mother said today she remained convinced that a U-turn had been made because she had contacted the MP.