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Dylan Osborn was ordered by the courts not to contact his ex-partner, Claire Tarbox, after barraging her with phonecalls and text messages after they broke up, reports the The Daily Telegraph.

However, after joining Facebook to view the wedding album of a friend, the social networking site automatically sent a "friend request" to every name on his email list, including that of Tarbox.

Though Osborn claimed to have no knowledge of the request, his ex-partner reported him to the police who subsequently arrested him for violating the conditions of his bail.

He spent three days in prison before being released after a plea for clemency from his solicitor. Osborn blamed the website's sign-in procedure for the error. "I certainly hadn't intended to contact my wife, I didn't even know she had a Facebook account. To be honest, I don't think the judge understood how it works either," he tells the Telegraph.

"People on Facebook should be careful - this could easily happen to someone else."

Osborn has been released on conditional bail and faces sentencing later this month.