Budding novelist Ivan de Nemethy bombarded a former school friend with more than 1,000 threatening faxes including one featuring drawings of bombs, writes Andrew French.

De Nemethy, 55, of Squitchey Lane, Oxford, plagued Chris Bowra when the pair fell out over a business deal.

He claims Mr Bowra, 53, still owes him about 40,000 and is pursuing him for the debt in the civil court.

At Oxford Magistrates' Court yesterday, de Nemethy pleaded not guilty to one charge of harassment. But he was given a three-year conditional discharge and ordered not to contact his victim after being found guilty. He was also ordered to pay 395 costs.

Vivien Walter, prosecuting, told the court that between August 1998 and March this year de Nemethy sent Mr Bowra, of Ramsgate, Kent, hundreds of disturbing faxes. Some were also sent to his lawyers. One contained a drawing of bombs while another showed a glass of water, making reference to his wife's false teeth. A scanned image of a gorilla was a reference to Mr Bowra's worn-out knee joints.

Mr Bowra told the court that the stream of faxes caused him severe stress,

"I never spoke to Mr de Nemethy about it," he added.

Before being sentenced, de Nemethy told the court: "I apologise. I won't do this again.

My computer was taken away for six weeks, which is how I make my livelihood, so to a certain extent I have been punished already."